
Book /ye> ^ ^ 

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Issued by the 

lommission of New York 
►09 



DIGEST OF DATA 



COLLECTED BEFORE THE YEAR J908 

RELATING TO THE 



SANITARY CONDITION OF 
NEW YORK HARBOR 



H.%K.L { P.v,fc Prepared and Issued by the 

Metropolitan Sewerage Commission of New York 

1909 



MARTIN B.BROWN 
* PRESS*' 




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J Digest of Data Collected Before the Year 1908 

Relating to the Sanitary Condition 
1 of New York Harbor 



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FOREWORD 

It is the purpose of this report to make pubHc a digest of the analytical 
data available up to 1908 relating to the sanitary condition of the waters 
of New York Harbor. The object in undertaking the study of these data 
was twofold : First, to turn to account the work which had already been 
done, so that further investigations could be based upon it; and, second, 
to present the essentials of these technical facts in a form suitable for 
the information of those interested in the subject. 

The investigations here included contribute materially to an under- 
standing of the conditions which follow the discharge of sewage into 
harbor waters ; but it must be understood that these data are not pre- 
sented as a basis for conclusions, further examinations of the water of 
New York Harbor and the procurement of additional data being now in 
progress. 

The first official body to attempt a comprehensive investigation of the 
conditions attending the disposal of sewage in the metropolitan district 
was the New York Bay Pollution Commission. This commission was 
appointed by the Governor of New York in 1903 and existed until 1906. 
The members were : Daniel Lewis, President ; Olin H. Landreth, Myron 
S. Falk, George A. Soper and Louis L. Tribus, Secretary. The New York 
Bay Pollution Commission pushed its studies of the water as far as its 
appropriation would allow, and its two published reports form the basis 
of the analytical work done since. 

The Metropolitan Sewerage Commission of New York was created in 
i(X)6 to carry on the work recommended by the New York Bay Pollu- 
tion Commission. This commission was appointed by the Mayor of New 
York in accordance with an Act of the State Legislature, Chapter 639, 
Laws of 1906 (amended by Chapter 422, Laws of 1908). The original 
members were : Daniel Lewis, President ; Olin H. Landreth, George A. 
Soper, Matthew C. Fleming and Andrew J. Provost, Jr., Secretary. On 
November 5, 1906, Commissioner Fleming resigned and Mr. James H. 
Fuertes was appointed to fill his place. In January, 1908, the commission 
was reconstituted and it has since consisted of the undersigned. 



Until the beginning of 1908 the work of the Metropolitan Sewerage 
Commission consisted chiefly in the collection of analytical data, little 
attempt being made to extract the useful information from the reports of 
the analysts as the work progressed. 

The work done since January, 1908, under the present Commissioners 
is not recorded in these pages, but when completed, will form the subject 
of a later report, which it is hoped will reconcile the contradictions con- 
tained herein and in the light of fuller information tend to a better under- 
standing of the conditions as they exist. 

In addition to the work of the New York Bay Pollution Commission 
and the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission, various other studies of the 
waters of New York Harbor made for special purposes are referred to 
in this report. 

The actual work of analysis in these investigations has been well done. 
The analyses for the New York Bay Pollution Commission and the De- 
partment of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity were made in the municipal 
water laboratory at Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The methods of the analyses 
were those of the committee on standard methods of water analysis of 
the American Public Health Association. 

During the work of the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission before 
1908 Mr. George C. Whipple and Dr. Daniel D. Jackson served as con- 
sulting analytical experts to this commission. The scheme of sampling, 
the lines of investigation and the interpretation of the results for the 
New York Bay Pollution Commission were due to a committee consisting 
of Commissioner Soper. The direction of the work done by the Metro- 
politan Sewerage Commission up to 1908 was in the immediate charge of 
Commissioners Landreth and Provost. The analyses for the Metropolitan 
Commission were performed in a laboratory fitted up in the Aquarium 
building through the courtesy of the New York Zoological Society, and 
were made mainly by the following staff: Mr. David S. Merritt, Dr. 
Payn B. Parsons, Mr. P. S. Miller. For a short time Messrs. Charles F. 
Breitzke and Eric T. King were engaged on the work. 

Metropolitan Sewerage Commission of New York, 

George A. Soper_, President; 
James H. Fuertes^ Secretary; 
H. DE B. Parsons, 
Charles Sooysmith, 
LiNSLY R. Williams. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Section I. 



Investigations Made by the New Yorl^ Bay 
Pollution Commission in 1904 and 1906 



PAGE 

THE INVESTIGATIONS OF 1904 9 

A. Bacterial Results 10 

1. Bacteria in the Water 10 

(a) First series of samples 10 

(b) Second series of samples 11 

(c) Third series of samples , 11 

(d) Fourth series of samples 12 

2. Bacteria in Shellfish 13 

B. Chemical Results 13 

C. Studizs of Salinity 15 

THE INVESTIGATIONS OF 1906 16 

A. Bacterial Results 17 

1. Numbers of Bacteria in the Water at Different Depths 17 

(a) Lower Bay and Narrows 18 

(b) Upper Bay and lower parts of East and Hudson 

Rivers 18 

(c) Rivers surrounding Manhattan Island 19 

2. Bacterial Conditions in Various Small Arms of the Harbor. 19 

(a) Gowanus Canal 19 

(b) Lower Bronx River 20 

B. Chemical Results 20 

1. Chemical Conditions at Different Depths 20 

(a) Upper New York Bay 20 

(b) Lower Bay and Narrows 21 

(c) Upper New York Bay and lower parts of East and 

Hudson Rivers 21 

(d) Rivers surrounding Manhattan Island 21 

2. Amount of Oxygen in the Waters of New York Bay and 

Vicinity 22 

C. Results of Sanitary Inspections of the Shores of New York 

Bay 2s 

(a) Upper Bay 23 

(b) Lower Bay 24 

(c) Oyster grounds 24 

D. Summary of Conclusions Reached by the New York Bay Pol- 

lution Commission 25 



4 

Section II. 

Investigations Made by the Metropolitan ^^^^ 
Sewerage Commission in 1907 27 



A. Numbers of Bacteria in the Water 28 

1. Surface Samples 28 

(a) Seasonal variations 30 

(b) Disappearance of bacteria from the water 31 

2. Numbers at Different Depths 31 

3. Diurnal Variations .... 32 

4. Relation to Stage of Tide 33 

B. Numbers of Bacteria in Solid Matter at the Bottom of the 
Hareor 34 

1. Numbers at the Surface of the Bottom ' . . , 35 

(a) Maximum and minimum numbers 35 

(b) Variations in numbers. 35 

(c) Numbers in water and solid matter compared 35 

(d) Localities having large numbers 36 

2. Numbers Below the Surface of the Bottom 37 

(a) Diminution with depth '. . . 2)7 

(b) Variation with locality. 38 

(c) Usefulness of these data ' 38 

C. Presumptive Test for the Colon Bacillus 39 

1. Coli in the Water 39 

(a) Prevalence of coh 39 

(Id) Absence of coli in deep water 40 

2. Coli in the Solid Matter at the Harbor Bottom 40 

(a) At the surface of the bottom 40 

(b) Significance of results 44 

D. Results of Chemical Analyses 41 

1. Free Ammonia in the Water 41 

(a) Comparison with other results 42 

(b) Relation to tide and depth 42 

(c) Diurnal variations 43 

2. Albuminoid Ammonia in the Water 43 

(a) Maximum and minimum results 44 

(b) Significance of results 44 

3. Chlorine in the Water 45 

(a) Value of results 45 

(b) Intermixture of sea and land water 45 

4. Loss on Ignition 46 

(a) Water 46 

(b) Solid matter from the bottom of the harbor 47 

5. Color of the Water 48 

6. Turbidity 5o 



PAGE 

E. The Flow of Tidal Currents as Ascertained by Means of 

Floats 51 

1. Methods 51 

(a) Object of these studies 51 

(b) Behavior of floats 52 

(c) Method of observing the floats 52 

2. Results 52 

(a) Flushing action of the tide 52 

(b) Maximum and minimum distances covered 53 

(c) Currents near shore and in midstream 54 



Section III 



Investigations Made by the Department of 
Water Supply, Gas and Electricity of the ^^^^ 
. City of New York in 1904 and 1905 55 



A. Bacterial Results 56 

I. Numbers of Bacteria 56 

(a) Variations in numbers 56 

(b) Complexity of conditions 57 

(c) Conditions at bulkheads and pierheads compared.. 58 

(d) Relation of depth 58 

B. Comparison With Other Results 58 

Coli in the Water 59 

C. Chemical Results 60 

1. Free Ammonia, Albuminoid Ammonia, Nitrites and 

Nitrates 60 

2. Chlorine 60 



Section IV. 

Investigations Made by Charles F. Breitzke 
in 1906 of the Sanitary Condition 

of Qowanus Canal 6i 



A. Sanitary Survey •. ; 61 

B. Analytical Results ...;.■..•.. 63 

C. Discussion of Data 64 



6 

Section V. 

Investigation of the Waters of the Lower 

Hudson River by the Burr=Hering= 

Freeman Commission in 1903 



PAGE 

A. Hydrographic Features 67 

1. The Hudson River 67 

(a) The Hudson as a source of drinking water 68 

(b) Depth and width of the Hudson 69 

(c) Cubic capacity of the Hudson 69 

(d) Discharge of the Hudson 70 

2. Tidal Phenomena 70 

(a) Tidal ranges in the Hudson 70 

(b) Duration of tidal periods. 71 

(c) Effect of wind on the tide level 71 

B. Studies of Salinity 71 

1. The Salt of the Sea 71 

(a) Chlorine 71 

(b) Mineral ingredients of sea water "72 

2. Saltness of the Hudson T2) 

(a) Changes in salinity ^"^ 

(b) The underrun 'j'}) 

(c) Sanitary importance of the underrun 74 

(d) Salinity at different points across the stream 75 

(e) Changing nature of the problem 75 

C. Pollution of the Hudson 75 

(a) The author's point of view 75 

(b) Method of study ^6 

(c) Population on the drainage area ^(i 

(d) Typhoid rates ']^ 

(e) Danger of pollution yj 



Section VI. 

Investigation of the Condition of the Passaic 
River by Messrs. Hazen and Whipple in 1906 



PAGE 

A. General Discussion of the Problem by Mr. Hazen 78 

I. The Manufacturing Wastes 78 

(a) Dye house wastes 79 

(b) Wastes from various industries 79 



PAGE 

2. Condition of the Sewers 80 

(a) Capacity and repair 80 

(b) Outlets and deposits 80 

3. Effect of Diverting Water from the Passaic 80 

(a) Extent of the draught 80 

4. Conclusions 81 

(a) Health considerations 81 

(b) Injury to property 81 

(c) Recommendation 81 

Discussion of the Chemical Composition of Paterson Sewage, 

BY Mr. Whipple 82 

1. The House Sewage and Factory Wastes produced by Pater- 

son 82 

(a) Quantity of house sewage 82 

(b) Polluting matters from manufactories 82 

(c) Experiments with dye house wastes 83 

(d) Brewery wastes 83 

2. Results of Analyses , 84 

(a) Analyses of sewage 84 

(b) Analyses of river water 84 

(c) First series of analyses 85 

(d) Second series of analyses 86 

(e) Third series of analyses 87 



Section I. 

Investigations Made by the New York Bay 
Pollution Commission 1903 to 1906 



THE INVESTIGATIONS OF 1903 AND 1904^= 

The work of the New York Bay PoUution Commission 
was the first systematic attempt made to ascertain by means 
of analyses, the sanitary condition of the waters of New York 
harbor. Some rough determinations of sulphides had been 
made many years before which had led experts of the U. S. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey to conclude that the sewage of 
New York City might be accumulating at the bottom of the 
harbor, a few analyses had been made by Mr. G. C. Whipple 
in connection with studies for an additional water supply for 
New York and a number of analyses had been made in con- 
nection with an auxiliary fire fighting service for New York; 
but the total number of these examinations was relatively small, 
and they were not intended to throw much light upon the 
larger problems raised as a result of discharging sewage into 
the harbor. It may be said that the New York Bay Pollution 
Commission found little information at hand upon which to 
base conclusions or to guide it in making investigations. 

The Commission began by taking about 50 samples of 
water from the bay at various points between the Battery, and 
Coney Island on the one hand and the Battery and Raritan 
bay on the other, and analyzing them for numbers of bacteria, 
for colon bacilli, and for chemical evidence of sewage. These 
samples were all collected from near the surface of the water. 

The water for analysis was usually collected from a boat 
directly into sterilized bottles by a person trained in such work. 
After the bottles were filled they were immediately taken to 
the laboratory, and were examined, as a rule, within two hours 
of the time when they were collected. 

In addition to these examinations of water, specimens of 
oysters and clams were collected from various points and an- 
alyzed for the colon bacillus by the presumptive test. There 
were 51 specimens of shellfish analyzed. 

* Report of the New York Bav Pollution Commission to Hoi:. Frank Wayland 
Higgins, Governor of the State of New York, March 31, 1905. Printed by Brandow 
Printing Company, State Printers, Albany, N. Y., 1905. 



lO 

A. Bacterial Results 

- ^ I. BACTERIA IN THE WATER 

Most of the samples of water sent to the laboratory were 
examined to determine the numbers of bacteria which they con- 
tained. The medium used for this bacterial work was stand- 
ard nutrient gelatin. The bacteria were cultivated at room 
temperature and counted after 48 hours. 

In interpreting the results of the analyses for colon bacilli, 
presumptive evidence of the presence of coli in each of three 
fermentation tubes containing .1 c.c, i c.c. and 10 c.c. of 
water respectively, was taken to indicate pollution; none with 
.1, but a positive result with i and 10, was taken to mean 
probable evidence of pollution; none with .1 or i, but a posi- 
tive result with 10 c.c. was not regarded as sufficiently sig- 
nificant to warrant a conclusion. 

(a) First Series of Samples. — The first series of samples 
was collected on June 11, 1904, between 10 and 11 in the 
morning and between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. The morning 
samples Avere taken on an ebb tide and the afternoon samples 
on a flood tide. 

The numbers of bacteria found in this first series of an- 
alyses were large, considering the fact that the samples were 
all collected in the main channels of the harbor and not near 
any sewer outlet. There were from 2,000 to about 45,000 
bacteria in each cubic centimeter of the water. 

There was no way to tell how many bacteria would have 
been present had no sewage been flowing into the harbor; 
but had the harbor been entirely free from sewage it seemed 
likely that the numbers would have been much smaller. The 
numbers of bacteria in clean sea water are hundreds, or less, 
and not tens of thousands per cubic centimeter. The num- 
bers in uncontaminated river water are, if not equally small, 
not usually so large as were here found, unless sewage is pres- 
ent. On the other hand, the bacteria in sewage are to be num- 
bered by the million. The inference seemed fair, therefore, 
that the bacteria in the harbor water might be taken as indi- 
cating the effects of sewage. 



II 

The numbers diminished with some regularity from the 
Battery to Coney Island, excepting in some samples taken in 
Gravesend bay, where local sources of pollution apparently 
existed. 

The tests for coli were of less interest, but seemed to in- 
dicate a better condition of the water at the Narrows and at 
Sea Gate than occurred in the Upper bay. On the w^ioule, the 
w^ater of the incoming tide was better than the water of the 
outgoing tide. 

(b) Second Scries of Samples. — Further analyses weie 
made in October with the object of learning something of the 
quality of the water along the Staten Island and Long Island 
shores, and, particularly, over the oyster beds which are sit- 
uated along the west side of the Lowxr bay. 

The samples were collected from the ends of piers ana 
docks between St. George and South Beach, Staten Island^ 
October 17, 1904, between 12:25 and 3:40 p. m. At the be- 
ginning of the sampling the tide was near the end of its flood ; 
at the end the ebb current had begun to flow. 

The results of these examinations, when interpreted AVith 
other information, were thought to afford an instructive illus- 
tration of several matters which were of much importance in 
this investigation. 

For example, the north side of Staten Island, from the 
Narrows to St. George, is provided with sewerage systems 
which discharge the sewage of 20,000 people or more into the 
waters of the Upper bay along this shore. When the samples 
of water were taken in this vicinity the current was running 
from east to west along this shore, carrying an increasing 
load of sewage with it. This is shown by the analyses, which 
indicate a contaminated condition of w^ater at St. George and 
a progressive reduction in impurity from this point eastward 
to the vicinity of the Narrows. The numbers of bacteria in 
this series ranged from 5,000 to 26,000 per cubic centimeter. 

(c) Third Series of Samples. — To investigate the quality 
of the water of Gravesend bay, samples were collected there 
on October 20, 1904. The samples were taken from a boat 



13 

which passed near the shore between i :45 and 3 :45*'l>:* m. 
The tide was rising. 

The results of these analyses were taken to indicate'lhat^. 
the water along practically the whole of the shore of Graves- 
end bay was contaminated by sewage. More than half the 
examinations for coli resulted positively even in samples of 
w^ater as small as .1 c.c. The numbers of " bacteria were 
smaller than might be expected, in view of the coli results, 
ranging between about 3,000 and 9,000 and occurring with 
considerable uniformity. The incoming tide which prevailed 
was distinctly favorable to purity in the samples. 

(d) Fourth Scries of Samples. — A final series of samples 
for bacterial analysis was taken along the east shore of Staten 
Island on October 22, 1904. This series extended down the 
Lower bay past the day-summer resorts of Midland Beach 
and South Beach and ran over the extensive oyster beds 
Avhich lie along this coast. The samples were taken between 
I p. m. and 5 140 p. m. The tide was rising. 

The results may be divided into three parts : ( i ) The 
samples which were collected between Rosebank and Midland 
Beach contained marked evidence of pollution; (2) the sam- 
ples from Elm Tree Beacon to beyond Great Kills contained 
but few bacteria and few of the colon type; (3) the samples 
collected from south of Great Kills to Tottenville contained 
considerable evidence of pollution. 

The numbers of bacteria ranged between wide limits in 
this series; that is, from about 900 to 60,000. The number 
seemed to depend upon the locality. The largest counts were 
always found in those parts of the harbor which received 
the most sewage. 

Two samples, averaging 13,000 bacteria to the c.c, were 
collected in Lemon creek, which drains about 2,000 acres of 
populated country. This creek was much used as a place for 
^' drinking " ovsters. 



J3 



2. BACTERIA IN SHELLFISH 



Most of tlie shellfish which are taken for market from the 
waters of Xew York bay are cultivated on the southeast shore 
of Staten Island, but some, and especially hard clams, are 
grown in tliat portion of the lower harbor known as Graves- 
end bay. To learn whether shellhsh grown in the bay bore 
evidence of pollution, specimens of oysters and clams were 
collected and examined by the presumptive test. 

The shellfish were collected directly from the ground 
where they were grown. At the laboratory they were ex- 
amined by opening the shells with a sterilized knife and mix- 
ing the contained liquid in portions of .i c.c, i c.c. and lo c.c. 
with fermentation broth and then proceeding as in w^ater 
analyses. 

The result showed that the shellfish which were grown in 
polluted water were generally polluted also. The samples 
did not always bear positive evidence of pollution. This is 
probably explained by the fact that some of the shellfish were 
cultivated in less polluted parts of the harbor than others. 

The oyster beds on the Staten Island shore seemed to lie 
between two great sources of danger : one the polluted water 
of the Upper bay and the other the contaminated water at 
the mouth of the Raritan river and Arthur Kill. The oysters 
which contained the fewest bacteria came from the vicinity 
of the Great Kills and Swash cliannel — points which are well 
removed from sewer outfalls and apparently beyond the most 
imminent danger from the sewage of the cities. 

The oysters which w-ere " drinked " in Lemon creek 
showed distinct evidence of contamination. 

B. Chemical Results 

The chemical analyses, especially the samples from the 
Upper bay, showed evidence of sewage in the water at 
all stages of the tide. The examinations did not warrant the 
opinion that the water was everywhere and at all times badly 
contaminated; but the chemical evidence well supported the 
bacterial results in showing that traces of sewage could be 



14 

found after the sewage had had what seemed a thorough mix- 
ing with the waters of the bay and after it had traveled miles 
from its points of outfall. 

One of the measures of pollution employed was the de- 
termination of nitrogen in the forms of free and albuminoid 
ammonia. The test for free ammonia was considered par- 
ticularly useful, for the reason that free ammonia is always 
present in sewage, and when found in large amount in water, 
is not likely to have been derived from a harmless source. 

By way of standards for comparison a table was prepared 
to show the amounts of free and albuminoid ammonia which 
exist in uncontaminated sea water, in drinking water and in 
sewage. These standards were kept in mind in considering 
the amount of free and albuminoid ammonia found in the 
waters of New York bay. 

There were 14 chemical analyses made. From these 
analyses it appeared that the water of the bay contained about 
2j^ times as much free ammonia and about i J4 times as much 
albtiminoid ammonia as pure sea water, and about 6^ times 
as much free ammonia and about the same amount of albu- 
minoid ammonia as the Hudson river at Poughkeepsie. The 
most polluted samples were taken near the Battery, near Rob- 
bins Reef, at the Narrows and near Coney Island. 

Data collected in connection with studies for a new water 
supply for New York showed that the water of New York 
bay contained nearly six times as much free ammonia and 
about the same amount of albuminoid ammonia as the water 
of the Hudson between New York and Poughkeepsie. 

One of the surprising results of the investigation was the 
fact that the tide seemed to have little effect in eliminating 
the evidences of pollution. It had been supposed that the 
sewage which drained into the harbor was carried away by 
the water which flowed into the sea from Long Island Sound 
and from the Hudson river. But these analyses indicated 
that there was not a great deal of difference between the 
quality of the incoming and outgoing water. In some cases 
the currents flowing into the bay were more polluted than 
those passing out. It seemed likely that, in spite of the great 



tidal movement, the diluted sewage passed back and forth 
indefinitely in the bay and rivers, in the neighborhood of the 
sewers from which it came. The movement of the tides 
seemed to diffuse and distribute the impurities rather than to 
remove them permanently. The completeness of the diffusion 
of the sewage in the waters of the bay was considered to have 
such an important bearing on the question as to what ulti- 
mately becomes of the sewage, that it seemed desirable to col- 
lect data to show the proportion of sea water and river water 
in the bay under different circumstances, in order to learn, if 
possible, to what extent the water of the bay was regularl}^ 
flushed out. Henceforward studies of salinity occupied a 
prominent place in the investigations of New York harbor 
waters. 

C. Studies of Salinity 

The ccmmingling of sea water and land water was shown 
by analyses of samples of water taken near the surface at 
various points in and about the harbor. The substance which 
was taken as characteristic of sea water was common salt, or, 
as w^ater analysts term it, chlorine. For purposes of compari- 
son the w^ater of the ocean beyond the range of land water 
influence was taken as averaging 18,000 parts of chlorine to 
1,00.0,000 parts of water, although the amount varies consid- 
erably in different parts of the sea. The water of Long- 
Island Sound was assumed to contain about 14,000, and the 
water of the Hudson at Poughkeepsie about 1.5 parts, per 
million. The results of about 80 analyses, made either by the 
Pollution Commission or by others, w^ere assembled to shov/ 
the different amounts of chlorine found at different points 
and under different circumstances of wind and tide. 

From these studies it seemed evident that the water of 
New York bay was not composed of land water and sea w^ater 
in any fixed proportion. It changes with the season. In the 
Lower bay it was found to range from about 20 fo to 100% 
sea water, according to location. A fair average for the 
Lower bay under ordinary conditions of weather, and beyond 
the range of local dilution, seemed to be about 75%. 



i6 

The water of the Narrows was found to vary from about 
43% to yj^/c sea wrater, the majority of samples averaging 
about 65%. At the Battery the samples ranged from 15% 
to 69% sea water, with an average in this vicinity, under 
what appeared to be fairly normal conditions, of about 45%. 

The lower Hudson was the scene of wide variations • in 
the proportion of salt. The Hudson at Spuyten Duyvil 
ranged from an hourly average of 0.5% to 44^ sea water 
for a whole day. . There was as much sea water on some occa- 
sions in the Hudson at Croton point as there was at other 
times at the Battery, -^^^i iTiiles nearer the ocean. It w^as evi- 
dent that the upper limit of brackish water might occur any- 
Avhere between Yonkers and Poughkeepsie. The chief cause 
of these differences was plainly the rainfall, for this furnishes 
the land water which dilutes the water of the sea. In the 
spring of the year, when the discharge of land water by the 
Hudson is at its height, the salt water is forced to an unusual 
distance toward the ocean. 

In late summer, when the rainfall is slight, and in the 
winter, when many inland streams are frozen, the sea water 
creeps up the Hudson to a surprising distance. Between Yon- 
kers and West Point the salinity is continually fluctuating. 
Every tide affects it. And, as the wind affects the level of 
the water in the bay, every storm has an appreciable effect 
upon the proportions of the mixture. 

The flow of the currents through the Narrows, East river 
and Hudson river seemed to have little influence upon the 
salinity of the water, except at seasons when the Hudson was 
discharging unusually large quantities of land water; at such 
times the action of the tides produces a marked effect. 

THE INVESTIGATIONS OF 1906- 

The foregoing investigations were supplemented in 1905 
by further studies by the New York Bay Pollution Com- 
mission. This additional work was largely of a chemical and 

* Renort of the New York Bay Pollution Commission to Hon. Frank Way^and 
Higeins Governor of the State of New York, April 30, 1906. Prnited by Brandow 
Printing' Company, State Printers, Albany, N. \. 



17 

bacteriological character. In addition to the analytical 
work, inspections were made of the shores of the harbor. 
These inspections w^ere made in a careful and systematic 
manner, and produced results of considerable value. 

The principal points of information sought in 1906 were: 

1. Whether the w^aters of New York bay were uniform 
in quality at all depths, or, in other words, whether a perfect 
mixture of the sea w^ater, land w-ater and sewage occurred; 

2. To what extent the waters of the East river, Harlem 
river and Hudson river bore evidence of sewage pollution; 

3. Whether the supply of oxygen in the water was always 
sufficient for the inoffensive decomposition of the organic 
matters present. 

The methods of analysis and the ways of expressing the 
results were the same as had been employed during the pre- 
vious year. There were 115 chemical analyses and the same 
number of bacteriological examinations made by the New 
York Bay Pollution Commission in 1906. As a rule, each 
water sample was used for both chemical and bacteriological 
analysis. For convenience in interpreting the data the results 
of the different examinations were considered separately. 

A. Bacterial Results 

L NUMBERS OF BACTERIA AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS 

Samples of water were taken at different depths in Upper 
New York bay to determine whether there was an appreciable 
dift'erence in the bacteriological conditions at the surface and 
at dift'erent points between the surface and the bottom. The 
first series of samples was collected from a boat on January 
28, 1906, during a rising and falling tide; a second series was 
collected in the same way two days later, tow^ard the end of a 
flood tide and closely following the beginning of an ebb tide. 
The samples were taken at depths of from 5 feet to 80 feet 
below the surface. 

The results show^ed that there were more bacteria near 
the surface than in the water below^ The reduction in nam- 



i8 

bers with depth was striking. It suggested the possibiHty 
that sewage and other decomposable refuse with which the 
bacteria were associated were not mixing uniformly with the 
water. Tests for B. coli seemed to confirm the conclusions 
which were derived from a study of the numbers of bacteria^ 
Up to this point the presumptive tests for coli had resulted 
positively in a large majority of all the samples examined in 
the commission's investigations; now, however, man}- re- 
sulted negatively at depths of 60 feet and over. 

(a) Lower Bay and Narrows. — The condition of the 
waters of the Low^er bay and Narrows was examined on Feb- 
ruary 17, 1906, by means of a series of samples collected from 
a boat. These analyses showed that there were several times 
as many bacteria near the surface as in the water near the 
bottom. The numbers of bacteria were not quite so large in 
the Lower bay as in the Upper bay, . but this difference was 
slight. Not so many samples of deep water as surface water 
gave positive results in the coli tests. 

(b) Upper Bay and Lozuer Parts of the East and Hudson 
Rivers. — A series of samples of water was collected in the 
Upper bay and lower end of the East and Hudson rivers on 
March 2 during rising and falling tides. 

The numbers of bacteria found in these tests were com- 
paratively large, and, in some cases/ decidedly so. The great- 
est numbers were in samples taken within range of extensive 
local sources of pollution. One of these sources of pollution 
was Gowanus canal; another was the large sewer which 
empties from the Brooklyn shore at Sixty-fourth street. 

The East river contained more bacteria than the Hudson 
river or the Upper bay, or the water off the Staten Island 
shore, which last was one of the most polluted localities investi- 
gated. 

Samples of water were taken from Bodine creek and from 
the Rah way river, in both of which streams oysters were ex- 
tensively " drinked " in preparation for the New York mar- 
ket. Both streams were believed, from previous investiga- 
tions, to be polluted with sewage. The conditions surround- 



19 

ing Bodine creek were described in the first report of the New 
York Bay Pollution Commission. The Rahway river re- 
ceived the sewage of the municipality of Cranford and the 
sewage of the city of Rahway only a short distance from the 
ix)int where the samples were collected. In view of the drain- 
age which entered these two streams, the numbers of bacteria 
seemed small. On the other hand, a large proportion of posi- 
tive results were obtained in the tests for B.- coli; in fact, 
nearly every examination resulted positively. 

(c) Rivers Surrounding Manhattan Island. — A series of 
analyses was made to determine the bacterial condition of 
the Hudson, East and Harlem rivers on April i, 1906. A 
flood current was running during the time the samples were 
being' taken. 

Nearly all the samples recorded in this series gave posi- 
tive results in the presumptive test for B. coli; the only ex- 
ception was in water taken from the Harlem river. The con- 
dition of the Harlem appears to have been much better than 
either that of the East or the Hudson river, although the 
numbers of bacteria were in no case small, considering the 
season of year when the samples were collected. The East 
river was more polluted than the Hudson or Harlem; the 
bacteria w^ere more than twice as numerous in the East river 
than in either of the other two rivers. 

The water near the bottom of the East river near the Bat- 
tery contained about as many bacteria as the water at the 
surface at this point. The Hudson, from its junction with 
the Harlem to Fortieth street, was decidedly polluted, accord- 
ing to these analyses. 

2. BACTERIAL CONDITION OF SMALL ARMS OF THE HARBOR 

(a) Gozmnus Canal. — As was well known, the Gowanus 
canal on the Brooklyn shore was one of the most polluted 
arms of New York bay. The odors from this canal consti- 
tuted a decided nuisance, and the city of New York w^as con- 
structing pumping engines and a tunnel in order to flush out 
the waters. 



20: 

In order to obtain an idea of the data which analyses of 
this water would yield, chemical and bacteriological exam- 
inations were made on February 3, 1906, of three samples 
of canal water taken from different points between the outlet 
and the head of the canal. 

There was a decided difference in the condition of the 
water at the different points. The bacteria were very numer- 
ous, and the amounts of free and albuminoid ammonia present 
were large. The tests for coli resulted positively in e\'ery 
case. 

(b) Lozver Bronx River. — Notwithstanding the fact that 
efforts were being made to protect the lower part of the 
Bronx river against sewage pollution, the condition of that 
stream was far from satisfactory, as shown by samples taken 
by the commission from different points between the dam and 
the mouth of the Bronx river on March 31, 1906, near high 
tide. 

The numbers of bacteria found indicated diminishing pol- 
lution as the river approached its mouth. This reduction was 
decided. All the tests for B. coli gave positive results. 



B. Chemical Results 

I. CHEMICAL CONDITIONS AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS 

(a) Upper Nezv York Bay. — Samples of water from dif- 
ferent depths at points between the Battery and the Narrows 
were collected on January 28, 1906, and analyzed chemically. 
The tide was rising. A second series of samples was col- 
lected on January 30, during the last of the flood and first of 
the ebb tide. 

The results showed that reduction in the amount of albu- 
minoid and free ammonia occurred in the water as the depth 
from, the surface increased. In some cases this dift'erence 
was considerable in others it was not marked. Averaging 
all the results, it was evident that the water near the surface 
was more polluted than the water below. 



21 

It is interesting to observe that the chlorine invariably 
increased with the depth, showing that there was a larger 
percentage of sea water at the bottom than at the surface of 
the bay. 

(b) Lozccr Bay and Narrozvs. — Samples of water were 
collected at different depths in the Lower bay and Narrows 
on February ly, 1906, near the time of high water. The re- 
sults showed that the chemical evidence of pollution did not 
vary inversely as the depth on this occasion. There was more 
free and albuminoid ammonia near the surface and at the bot- 
tom than between these points. These differences were 
marked. The data seemed to indicate that strata of water 
containing more sewage than occurred in the waters of the 
Upper bay lay at the top and bottom, while the water between 
was less contaminated. 

(c) Upper Nczu York Bay and Lozccr Parts of flic East 
and Hudson Rizvrs. — Samples of water were taken at dif- 
ferent points in the vicinity of the Upper bay on ]March 2, 
1906, during flood and ebb current, and analyzed, with the re- 
sult that more sewage was found in the water than had been 
observed previously. Some of the samples, although not col- 
lected near visible sources of pollution, contained large 
amounts of free ammonia. The water at the lower end of 
the East river was especially remarkable in this resinect. 

(d) Rii'crs Surrounding Manhattan Island. — Samples of 
water taken from the East river, Harlem river and Hudson 
river were collected on April i, 1906, during a flood current. 

The water in the East river contained on an average more 
free and albuminoid ammonia than the waters of the Hudson 
or Harlem rivers. There was but little difference between the 
water at the surface and at the bottom, so far as the ammonia 
indicated. The condition of the Harlem river as indicated by 
these analyses was not far different from that of the Hudson. 

The determinations of chlorine showed that the Hudson 
river was comparatively free from sea water as far south as 
the middle of ^Manhattan Island, except at the bottom. There 



22 

was much more sea water at the bottom than at the top. A 
sample cohected near the bottom off Grant's Tomb, at One 
Hundred and Twenty-fifth street, contained about 13 times 
as much chlorine as the average of the surface samples above 
Fortieth street. Off the Battery there was nearly twice as 
much sea water at the bottom as at the top. There w^as a 
steady decrease in the amount of sea water in the Harlem river 
from the East river to the Hudson. 



2. AMOUNT OF OXYGEN IN THE WATERS OF NEW YORK BAY 

AND VICINITY 

Inasmuch as the inoffensive digestion of sewage by tidal 
waters depends largely upon the supply of atmospheric 
oxygen, a series of analyses was made to determine whether 
there was as much oxygen present as necessary. The samples 
were collected, as already described, from, a boat on January 
28, January 30, February 17, March 2 and April i, 1906. 

The analyses showed a good supply of oxygen in the water 
of the Upper bay at all depths. Under these circumstances 
offensive odors would not be formed unless the quantity of 
sewage discharged into the harbor was greatly increased. 

In many cases the amount of oxygen increased with the 
depth. Samples of water taken near the surface usually did 
not contain as much oxygen as did samples from below. This 
was contrary to what was expected and was taken to indicate 
that the disproportionately large numbers of bacteria Avhich 
existed near the surface consumed enough oxygen to reduce 
the amount. 

With reference to the water near the surface in the Upper 
bay and waters surrounding Manhattan Island, it was found 
that the oxygen was exhausted in only one of the samples 
examined. This sample was collected from Gowanus canal. 
The oxygen was below the average in the water of the bay 
opposite the outlet of the Gowanus canal and near the outfall 
of the trunk sewer at Sixty-fifth street, Brooklyn. These de- 
ficiencies indicated the effect of the sewage upon the harbor 
waters. There was no deficiency of oxygen in any of the 



samples collected in the Hudson and East rivers. A difference 
between the oxygen present at the bottom and near the sur- 
face of the water was noticeable in the Hudson river off 
Grant's Tomb. Here there was more oxygen at the surface 
than at the bottom, indicating a purer condition of water at 
the top. 



C. Results of Sanitary Inspections Along the Shores 
OF New York Bay 

Inspections along the shores of New^ York bay were under- 
taken in the latter part of March and continued until the 
middle of April, 1906. The inspector w^alked along the shores 
and made note of sewage and other refuse where it could be 
seen either on the shore or in the water. An attempt was 
made to make these inspections more than ordinarily definite 
and exact. Careful note was taken of the wind and tide, and 
recorded with the date, hour and place where the conditions 
were observed. The conditions were described in such 
a way as to indicate not only the location and character of 
the polluting matter found, but, as far as practicable, its quan- 
tity. For example, the number of cubic yards of vegetable 
and animal refuse on a measured area of beach was recorded 
wherever practicable. 

(a) Upper Bay. — It was found that the eastern shore of 
Staten Island accumulated considerable quantities of refuse, 
which was carried to it by the tide. Some portions of this 
shore above the Narrows were decidedly foul with sewage, 
and it was observed that much of this sewage was being dis- 
charged by the sewers of Staten Island itself. The New 
Jersey shore of Upper New York bay was, on the whole, com- 
paratively free from visible traces of sewage, except in the 
neighborhood of the outfalls of local sewxrs. The eastern, 
or Brooklyn, shore of Upper New York bay was, for nearly 
its whole length, obviously polluted with sewage, refuse and 
garbage. The amount of this pollution diminished in the 
direction of the Narrows. 



24 

Tl'ie shores of the islands in Upper New York bay were^ 
for the most part, comparatively clean, except for sewage 
which was discharged from buildings on the islands them- 
selves. There were points, however, along Governor's Island 
and Liberty Island where remains of sewage were found which 
could not have originated from local drains, for none existed 
close by. 

(b) Lozvcr Bay. — Both shores of the Lower bay were 
polluted with sewage refuse to some extent for a considerable 
distance from the Narrows. The Staten Island shore con- 
tained large quantities of garbage as far as the inspections 
were continued in a southwesterly direction; that is, to Mid- 
land Beach. The north shore of the Lower bay was fairly 
free from visible evidences of sewage, except near the outlets 
of local sewers, where small amounts of sewage scum were 
occasionally seen floating to a distance from the shore. The 
presence of large grease balls, which could only have been de- 
rived from sewers of considerable length, showed that some 
sewage was evidently transported to these shores from the 
Upper bay. 

That portion of the shore of the outer harbor which is in 
the vicinity of Norton's point contained so much driftwood, 
garbage and sewage matter of various kinds that it seemed 
reasonable to suppose that this point was a collecting centre 
for refuse which was carried out of the Upper bay by the tidal 
currents on their way to sea. As much as 5 cubic yards of 
animal and vegetable refuse were found on 400 square feet 
of beach in this vicinity. Men gathering wood said that the 
supply of fuel was inexhaustible. 

From Norton's point eastward there was a constantly 
diminishing amount of putrescent refuse, until at about mid- 
way between the two ends of Coney Island it was reduced to 
an occasional lot of garbage or a dead -animal. The shores 
and water of Sheepshead bay wxre fairly clean, as might be 
expected at that season of year. 

(c) Oyster Grounds. — The inspections confirmed what 
the commission's chemical and bacteriolog^ical analvses had 



already shown concerning the objectionable practice of im- 
mersing oysters in the creeks in the immediate vicinity of 
New York City. Bodine creek on Staten Island, where large 
quantities of oysters were " drinked " in preparation for mar- 
ket, was reported by the inspector to be obviously polluted by 
sewage. The shores w'ere strewn with vegetable and animal 
matters, and a scum of grease and petroleum was on the water. 

Equally objectionable conditions connected with the oyster 
industry were found elsewhere. The liquid part of the sewage 
of the towai of Sheepshead Bay was found to be emptied, after 
being treated with chemicals, into Bull's creek in the imme- 
diate proximity of oyster beds. 

The danger of polluting oysters in the ways here indi- 
cated W'as clearly pointed out in the first report of the New 
York Bay Pollution Commission. The existence of the re- 
stilting danger to the public health was emphasized by a 
typhoid fever outbreak which occurred at Lawrence, N. Y".. 
in 1904, and was ascribable to oysters and clams grown and 
cultivated within the New Y'ork Citv limits. 



D. Summary of Conclusions Reached by the New 
Y^ORK Bay Pollution Commission 

The principal opinions which the New Y^ork Bay Pollu- 
tion Commission formed from its investigations are scattered 
through the various divisions of the two reports which the 
commission made. The commission found that the waters of 
the bay and adjacent waters were unmistakably, but not as yet 
badly, polluted. It was clear that the sew^age was not uni- 
formly dispersed and diffused through the breadth and depth 
of the tidal currents, but that the sewage polluted the water 
more at the surface than in the depths below. The discharge 
of sewage along the shores often led to decided local nuisances. 
Offensive matters from the sewage were sometimes trans- 
ported long distances by the tides and winds and deposited on 
shores remote from any sewer outlet. Excepting in such 
heavily polluted waters as Gowanus canal, there was probably 
always enough ox3^gen in the waters about New Y^ork to 



26 

enable the agencies of decomposition to carry on their work 
of digesting the sewage without danger of producing offensive 
odors. Although the existing method of disposing of the 
sewage of New York was apparently as suitable as any method 
of emptying the crude sewage of the metropolis into these 
waters could be, it was far from being always satisfactory. 
The disposal of sewage at the pierhead line, as practiced on 
Manhattan Island, was to be preferred to the plan of empty- 
ing it at the bulkhead line, as was generally practiced else- 
where in this vicinity. 

No other method of disposing of the sewage of New York 
and vicinity was suggested as the result of these investigations. 
It was evident that some other method should be devised, but 
the commission reported that a satisfactory study of this ques- 
tion would involve investigations of a far more exhaustive 
character and wider scope than had thus far been possible. 

The following extract from the final (1906) report gives 
the opinion of the New York Bay Pollution Commission with 
respect to the need of extending the analytical work upon 
broader and more adequate lines : 

'' The total number of analyses was very small, con- 
sidering the size of the problem to be studied. The 
great extent of the harbor and its tributaries, and the 
multiplicity of the conditions of pollution and purifica- 
tion which called for investigation needed far more ex- 
tensive analytical study than the slender means of this 
commission permitted. The analytical work done thus 
far should be regarded only as an indication of the 
great value and meaning which would attach to similar 
work if carried out on a large scale. It is hoped, if 
further studies are to be made of the conditions of 
these waters, that opportunities will be afforded for 
keeping the harbor and adjacent w^aters under ade- 
quate observation for, at least, one full year. Facilities 
should be provided for the collection and analyses of 
several thousand samples." 



27 



Section II. 



Investigations Made by the Metropolitan 
Sewerage Commission in 1907 



It was recommended by the New York Bay Pollution 
Commission that the investigations necessary to an under- 
standing of the condition of New York harbor should be made 
by a board of official investigators and that the new board 
be given jurisdiction and sufficient resources to enable it to 
make a comprehensive study of the whole question of harbor 
pollution, including remedial measures. 

The task of making this study was placed in the hands of 
a commission appointed for the purpose in 1906 by the Mayor 
of the City of New York. The act providing for the com- 
mission was chapter 639 Laws of 1906 (amended by chapter 
422, Laws of 1908). The official title of the commission was 
the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission of New York. 

Data were at once collected relative to the chemical and 
bacteriological condition of the harbor and neighboring 
waters. In connection w^ith those studies samples of mud and 
other solid matter were taken from the bottom of the harbor 
for analysis. In addition to these analytical studies, observa- 
tions were made of the tidal currents of the harbor by means 
of floats. 

The data collected by this commission were duly recorded 
and preserved, and, to some extent, tabulated; but little study 
of the deductions derivable from the' data was made until 
after the commission was re-constituted in January, 1908. 
Under these circumstances a complete digestion of the data 
has been impracticable, and much useful information has 
doubtless escaped discovery. Care has been taken, however, 
to examine the records for such light as they are capable of 
throwing upon the questions which the reconstituted com- 
mission considers to be of principal importance. 



28 

A. Numbers of Bacteria in the Water 

The determination of the numbers of bacteria in the water 
was the most interesting and profitable kind of analysis which 
was made. The total number of samples of water analyzed 
bacteriologically was 755. These samples were taken at 188 
places. All were collected in the nine months between Jan- 
uary 22i and October 18, 1907. 

The samples were collected in many localities, sometimes 
under circumstances which indicated that particularly useful 
data should result therefrom. For example : Several series 
of samples were taken in the neighborhood of large sewer 
outfalls, across the rivers and channels, in the polluted Go- 
wanus canal and Newtown creek and in the little-studied , 
Newark bay. 

Iw some of these series the samples were collected along a 
line parallel with the direction of the channel, and in others 
at a single point through a considerable period of time. The 
water was collected at various depths, ranging from near the 
surface to 100 feet below. 

In addition to the quantitative work, the samples were 
analyzed in some cases for colon bacilli by the so-called pre- 
sumptive test. This qualitative work is referred to elsewhere. 

I. SURFACE SAMPLES 

The samples which are recorded as having been collected 
from the surface of the water were generally taken at a depth 
of a few inches below the actual surface. In only one case 
was a sample taken at the surface itself. The bacteria were 
undoubtedly more numerous at the actual surface where these 
samples were taken, but, inasmuch as many of the bacteria 
found of any water surface are likely to have been derived 
from the air, the custom, common in water analyses, of taking 
the sample from a little below the surface was adhered to. 

Considering all the results which are capable of being 
brought together to form a fair average, it appears that the 
number of bacteria in the main channels ranged from about 
1,000 to 10,000. Numbers from 10,000 to 100,000 represent 



29 

comparatively heavy pollution; numbers from 100,000 to 
1,000,000 and over occurred wherever heavy pollution existed. 

The bacteria were more numerous in places near sewer 
outfalls than elsewhere. For example, the numbers rose to 
808,000 near the South Brooklyn shore, 625,000 at the head 
of Gowanus canal, 25,500 in Wallabout bay, 106,000 in New- 
town creek, and 69,000 in Newark bay. 

The smallest number of bacteria found in any sample was 
150. This occurred in the Hudson river off Spuyten Duyvil — ■ 
one of the cleanest localities investigated. The place where 
the greatest number of bacteria occurred in the main channels, 
Avas immediately west of the Brooklyn anchorage grounds and 
just south of Governor's Island. 

Analyses made from samples collected at a greater number 
of points might have shown different minimum and maximum 
numbers than those just given, but this is not important. 

The numbers of bacteria Avere smaller the farther the sam- 
ples were collected up the Hudson. The same is true of 
samples taken up the Harlem going from the East river 
toward Spuyten Duyvil. 

The numbers in the harbor diminished from the Battery 
toward the open sea. But the numbers increased toward the 
upper end of Newark bay and the Gowanus canal. The larg- 
est count in the polluted Newtown creek w^as found about half- 
way up from the mouth and not where the greatest amount of 
polluting matter entered the creek. Apparently some of the 
hquid trade wastes which are emptied into the creek have a 
destructive action upon bacteria or the bacteria multiply in 
the water. 

Considering the results as a whole, the numbers of bacteria 
in the harbor waters seem to give a fairly accurrate idea of 
the intensit}^ of sewage pollution. Speaking generally, it can 
be said that counts ranging as high as 1,000 represent con- 
ditions which need no immediate remedy. Numbers between 
10,000 and 100,000 mean nearby or heavy pollution; and arc 
sometimes found where the water is so contaminated as to be 
discolored and of unpleasant odor. Numbers ranging from 



30 

100,000 to 1,000,000, and above, generally represent offensive 
conditions. 

(a) Seasonal Variations. — The analyses of samples of 
water collected from a single locality at different seasons of 
year and at similar stages of tide, indicated that larger num- 
bers of bacteria occurred in the winter, spring and fall than 
in the summer. This question is of such interest that further 
details of the data will be given. 

A series of six samples was. taken in Newtown creek on 
September 11, 1907, which, on analysis, gave an average num- 
ber of 5,500 bacteria per c.c. A series taken at the same point 
under the same tidal conditions, October 7 to 10, gave an 
average of 36,000. Again, at Hamilton avenue, on the 
Gowanus canal, the largest number of bacteria found in a 
series of samples collected during a flood tide on February 2y 
was 320,000. Under similar conditions 17,000 were found at 
this point on September i. The largest number during an 
ebb tide at the same place as the last was 97,000 on October i ; 
and there were 16,000 at this point on August 5. Two exam- 
inations were made at a point in Gowanus bay, one on October 
. I and the other August 5, 1907. The sample collected in 
August contained 13,000 and the sample in October 64,000. 
Finally, near the South Brooklyn shore, of the results of 17 
analyses, classified by tides, the largest numbers occurred on 
October i, viz., 808,000, and the lowest June 11, 3,080, both 
on a flood tide. The maximum on an ebb tide 78,000, occurred 
on February 4; the minimum, 8,300, on August 5. It appears 
from these facts that the numbers of bacteria varied with the 
season and that the bacteria were more numerous in fall and 
winter than in summer. 

The results of the analyses of solid matter from the har- 
bor bottom, seem to indicate that the numbers of bacteria were 
also generally larger in cool weather than in warm. But some 
large numbers in June, and some comparatively small ones in 
March, make it unsafe to consider that there are greater num- 
bers of bacteria on the bottom in winter, as is true of the bac- 
teria in the water. 



31 

An explanation of the fact that larger numbers of bac- 
teria were found in winter than in summer is desirable, but, 
in the absence of information concerning- the nature of the 
conditions which make for the preservation or destruction of 
the bacteria, it is impossible to make an accurate statement. 

(b) Disappearance of Bacteria from the Water. — It is 
probable that the bacteria which are discharged with sewage 
do not find conditions in the harbor waters favorable to their 
existence, and expire rapidly. It is likely that the sewage 
bacteria do not, except under certain and probably abnormal 
and restricted conditions, multiply in the water, but perish 
after what must be considered a brief interval. It would seem, 
therefore, that the harbor is not like a cesspool in which bac- 
terial multiplication is a leading feature. Either the sewage 
in the harbor is disposed of in other ways than by bacterial 
action or the bacterial action is very rapid. 

The self-cleansing power of the harbor is a phenomenon 
of the greatest interest and importance, and it is desirable that 
it be understood. 

2. Numbers at Different Depths 

When a series of water samples was taken at different 
depths it was found that the numbers of bacteria generally 
diminished from the surface downward. The count at 20 feet 
below the surface was often only one-half that at the sur- 
face. The rate of diminution with depth was not uniform, 
but varied considerably. 

It is true that in the Hudson off Spuyten Duyvil a single 
series of observations which was continued through two tides 
indicated the bacteria did not decrease, but increased, in num- 
bers with the depth at which the sample was taken. But this 
was probably due to circumstances which are peculiar to the 
Hudson. It seems probable that the fresher and purer water 
of the river at this point sometimes flows, without intimate 
admixture, over a denser substraturii of salt water brought 
by the tide from the lower reaches of the river, and that this 
substratum sometimes carries a load of sewage from the more 



polluted parts of the harbor. An increase in the number of 
bacteria with depth has never been found at the mouth of the 
Hudson river, even during a freshet, the surface pollution 
there being sufficiently heavy to make the bacteria at the top 
more numerous than at any point below. 

The number of bacteria found at the greatest depth at which 
samples were taken anywhere, viz., lOO feet, was in the Lower 
bay; the number was 300. This occurred at a time when 
there were 900 at the surface at the same point. The smallest 
count in the middle of the Narrows, the junction of the Upper 
and Lower bays, w^as 180, at a depth of 85 feet; at this time 
there were 1,600 bacteria at the surface at the same point. 

It is evident from the foregoing that, as a general thing, 
there are many more bacteria near the surface than in the 
depths of the water in the bay, a conclusion which was 
reached by the New York Bay Pollution Commiission and 
stated in its second published report. 

With respect to the difference in numbers of bacteria at 
different points across the channels from one shore to another, 
the typical condition is this : The fewest bacteria occur at the 
bottom near the center of the cross-section of the river or 
channel, and from this point they increase vertically and hori- 
zontally, the largest numbers being at the surface near each 
shore. The differences are often considerable. This seems 
reasonable, since the sewage and other drainage which enter 
the harbor are discharged at the surface and along the sides. 



! 3. Diurnal Variations 

A dift'erence in the numbers of bacteria was observable be- 
tween samples collected during the day and night. A series 
of day-and-night observations made near Fifty-third street, 
Brooklyn, gave a maximum at 9:15 p. m., and a minimum at 
6:00 a. m. These differences were apparently independent 
of the tides. They seem to have been due to the fact that less 
sewage is discharged into the harbor at night than in the day 
time. If this series of observations correctly represents the 
conditions which generally occur throughout the harbor at 



33 

different hours, it indicates that the bacterial effects of dis- 
charging sewage into the harbor are not of a lasting character 
— a probability which has already been pointed out on the 
basis of other evidence. 

The polluting effect produced by heavily contaminated 
creeks and other tributaries upon the general waters of the 
harbor was made apparent by collecting a series of hourly sam- 
ples through a period of eight hours in the East river near 
the mouth of Newtown creek. As might be expected, the 
numbers of bacteria were largest when the tide favored the 
discharge of the creek water into the river. 



4. RELATION TO STAGE OF TIDE 

The relation of tide to the numbers of bacteria depended 
upon the location of the point under observation with refer- 
ence to the sources of pollution. During flood tide there were 
fewer bacteria in the water than during ebb tide in the Upper 
and Lower bays, Kill van KuU, Newark bay, lower Hudson 
and lower East rivers. In general it may be said that there 
were fewer bacteria in the harbor water when the tidal cur- 
rents were flowing toward the land than when they were 
flowing toward the sea. But there were exceptions to this 
rule. In the upper East river and Harlem river the water at 
ebb tide contained fewer bacteria than the water at flood tide. 

The reason there w^ere generally fewer bacteria when 
the water was flowing in from the sea than when it was flow- 
ing outward is not made clear by the data, but it is not im- 
probable that it was due to a numbef of causes. 

It is known that sea water in large amount enters 
the harbor with each tide, and the water which comes 
in is undoubtedly cleaner than the water which goes out. It 
is cleaner for the reason that it is mixed with some pure sea 
water, and, perhaps more important still, the dirty water has 
partly purified itself. 



34 

B. Numbers of Bacteria in Solid Matter at the 
Bottom of the Harbor 

There were 705 samples of solid matter collected from the 
bottom of the harbor and analyzed to determine the numbers 
of bacteria present. These samples were from 371 localities. 
The samples were chiefly taken from the surface of the mud, 
but in y-^ cases analyses were made of material taken at dif- 
ferent depths below the surface of the harbor bottom. 

The samples were collected from a large number of local- 
ities, including the Hudson as far north as Yonkers ; Newark 
bay, which lies to the west of Upper New York bay ; and Am- 
brose channel, near the ocean. 

The samples were all taken between February 14 and 
October 2, 1907. Some samples were taken close to the 
shores, others at points in the channels at places known to be 
polluted, and still others in the grossly contaminated Gowanus 
canal and Newtown creek. 

Pains were taken to collect the material in ways to insure 
freedom from admixture with the water through which the 
sampling apparatus was lowered and raised, but how success- 
ful these efforts were is not revealed by the data. Two special 
pieces of apparatus were made for the purpose of getting* 
specimens without contamination, and were used to collect the 
samples where the latter were taken from different depths 
below the surface of the harbor bottom. 

In the following statements the numbers of bacteria are 
given as having been contained in one gram of material dried 
at a temperature of about 100 degrees centigrade. If we 
assume that this material contained as much water as solid 
matter, a supposition apparently close to the truth, the num- 
ber of bacteria per gram of wet solid can be ascertained by 
dividing the numbers given by two. 



35 



I. NUMBERS AT THE SURFACE OF THE BOTTOM 

(a) Maximuni and Minimum Numbers. — The largest 
number of bacteria found in any sample of solid matter from 
the bottom of the harbor was 26,000,000; this was in Go- 
wanus bay. The smallest count was 7,500, which number 
occurred at two points : one in Ambrose channel and the other 
off Hoffman Island. It is to be noted that both of these points 
were in the lower bay and far removed from any immediate 
source of pollution by sewage. Nevertheless, they were well 
within the limits of the outer harbor and in the direct line of 
the main current from Upper New York bay. 

The smallest count below the bottom was 4,000. This 
was found in a sample collected off Constable point at a depth 
of 12 feet 8 inches below the surface of the bottom. 

The very fewest bacteria found in any sample was 2,800. 
This sample was collected from a Government dredging scow 
which happened to be working in Ambrose channel. The 
possibility that this sample came from below the normal sur- 
face of the bottom and the chance that the material was acci- 
dentally mixed with sea water, must be taken into account in 
considering the result. It is an important result in so far as 
it shows that the bacteria were not excessively numerous at 
this point. 

(b) Variation in Numbers. — Samples of material from 
the bottom taken at adjacent points sometimes gave different 
results. The greatest difference between two samples col- 
lected close together occurred in Gowanus bay, where one 
sample gave 400,000 bacteria and another 19,000,000. There 
is no explanation in the reports of analysts to account for this 
dift'erence. The smaller count was in a sample collected on 
an ebb tide and the larger in one collected on a flood tide, 
but it is not probable that the stage of the tide had an appreci- 
able effect upon the numbers. 

(c) Numbers in Water and Solid Matter Compared. — 
Considering the results of these analyses as a whole, it is evi- 
dent that the numbers of bacteria at the surface of the harbor 



36 

bottom were far greater for a given weight of sample than 
for water, even surface water. If the sohd matter when dry 
weighed about half as much as it did when w^et, the bacteria 
on the surface of the bottom probably were from about 15 
to 250 times as numerous as in the water at the surface at 
the same spot, or at least 400 times as numerous as in the 
water near the bottom. 

The reasons for these large numbers of bacteria in the 
solid matter at the bottom are not discoverable from the data 
brought out in the analyses. This solid matter was not proved 
by other facts to be due to deposits of sewage. 

It is interesting to note that the samples often contained 
a large amount of organic matter which was either putrefying 
or ready to putrefy as soon as it was kept at a favorable tem- 
perature. Nearly all the samples, when they were put into 
bottles, corked and kept in the laboratory for a few days, 
evolved gas. This gas was offensive and apparently con- 
tained sulphuretted hydrogen. The solid matter was mostly 
of a blackish color, except where the tidal currents were 
strong, in which case it consisted largely of clean sand. 

It seemed to make little difference how^ heavy was the pol- 
lution of the water; if the currents were strong the bottom 
was clean. Where the water was comparatively quiet, of- 
fensive black mud was likely to be found. An extensive area 
of this mud lay south of Governor's Island and another 
covered that part of the harbor known as the Jersey Flats. 

(d) Localities Having Large Numbers. — Comparing one 
section of the harbor with another, the bacteria in the material 
at the bottom were numerous in the Upper bay and in that 
section of the harbor immediately west of the Brooklyn shore. 
The numbers were large, also, on the northern half of the 
New Jersey Flats in the Upper bay, but small on the southern 
half of these flats. The numbers were always large in the 
vicinity of sewers, large in Gowanus canal, in Wallabout ba}' 
and canal, and in Newtown creek. 



37 

2. NUMBERS BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE BOTTOM 

The samples collected beneath the surface of the bottom 
of the harbor in the y^i cases in which such samples were taken 
were gathered and analyzed between February 14 and March 
22, 1907. 

Tlie localities from which the samples were collected were 
the Gowanus canal ; the west side of the Upper bay ; near 
the Brooklyn shore; near the Staten Island shore, and the 
Harlem river. The greatest depth from which a sample was 
collected was 13 feet 8 inches below the surface of the bottom.. 

(a) Diininution with Depth. — The data show that the 
bacteria, as a rule, diminished in numbers with the depth ar 
which the material was collected, although some marked ex- 
ceptions to this rule occurred. One of these exceptions has a 
definite explanation, but the causes of the others are not evi- 
dent. 

The exception occurred off Kingsbridge on the Harlem, 
ship canal. Here nearly three times as many bacteria were 
found at a depth of 2 feet as at the surface of the bottom. 
A note made by the analyst who collected the sample states 
that a deposit of peat was found here. On examining the 
result of other analytical studies of this sample, it is apparent 
that the large number of bacteria were due to the peat. 

The number of bacteria generally decreased as the depth 
into the bottom increased, but the rate of this change was not 
uniform. Thus, one sample collected at 13 feet 8 inches 
below the surface of the mud contained only about 6 per cent, 
of the number found at the surface, while another sample at 13 
feet 2 inches contained more than half as man}^ bacteria as 
were found at the surface of the mud at the same point and 
time. It is impossible to derive from the data any genera] 
statement by which the diminution of bacteria with the depth 
below the surface of the harbor bottom can be described. 

The depth of water over the bottom has not been shown 
to have any effect on the number of bacteria at the surface of 
the bottom or beneath the surface at any depth. 



38 

Inasmuch as considerable importance attaches to the num- 
bers of bacteria in the sohd matters at the bottom of the har- 
bor, it is of interest to state the results of some further ex- 
aminations of the data, although these examinations seem to 
justify no immediately useful conclusions. 

The number of bacteria decreased with the depth at which 
the sample was taken below the surface of the bottom, or was 
about the same, in 60 per cent, of all cases. The number in- 
creased with the depth in 40 per cent, of all cases. In those 
Instances in which an increase was noted with the depth, the 
average excess of the largest number over the surface count 
was 142 per cent. The largest increase with depth was about 
700 per cent. ; this happened near Bayonne. The largest de- 
crease with depth was from 74,000 to 5,000, a difference of 
about 15 times the smaller number; this occurred near Con- 
stable point. 

(b) Variation zuitJi Locality. — The samples taken in the 
Harlem river indicate that the number of bacteria were much 
smaller west of Kingsbridge than elsewhere. The greatest 
numbers were between One Hundred and Fifty-second street 
and Randall's Island. Here the pollution of the river by 
sewage is probably greatest; one of the largest sewers which 
discharge into the Harlem empties ai One Hundred and Fifty- 
first street. 

The series of samples of solid matter collected from the 
bottom across the Upper bay from a point west of Ellis Island 
to Constable point, contained a marked excess in numbers of 
bacteria at all depths below the surface of the bottom near 
the point known as Black Tom, on the Jersey shore. 

In another series collected between Communipaw^ and Lib- 
erty Island maximum numbers occurred near the shore at the 
north end of this line, off Ellis Island and near Liberty Island. 

In the foregoing series it should be remarked that several 
samples were collected which showed greater numbers below 
the surface than at the surface of the harbor bottom. 

(c) Usefulness of these Data. — The examination of ma- 
terial from the harbor bottom did not yield results comparable 



39 

in definiteness and utility with the resuUs of numerical 
analyses of bacteria in the water samples, yet they are of con- 
siderable value when considered with other evidence. When 
the data were plotted in graphic form facts of much interest 
became evident. The whole work would have been of much 
greater value if samples of sea w^ater and of harbor water 
beyond the chance of contamination had been analyzed for 
comparison. In the absence of such controls it is impossible 
to state whether the numbers of bacteria in the harbor de- 
posits were or were not excessively high. 

C. Presumptive Test for the Colon Bacillus 

Analyses were made to obtain such information as coulfl 
readily be had concerning the presence of the colon bacillus. 
The method was the familiar presumptive test as modified by 
Jackson, in which the samples are inoculated into a liquid 
medium which is capable of undergoing fermentive changes 
through the action of colon bacteria. The presence and 
nature of the fermentation, as indicated by the amount and 
composition of the gas formed, was taken to indicate the 
presence of the bacillus. 

I. COLI IN THE WATER 

As is customary in this kind of analysis, the results were 
stated as positive or negative, according to whether or not 
the test indicated that the colon bacillus was present. 

The total number of colon determinations made with 
samples of water was 344. The samples were collected from 
about 120 places. 

(a) Prevalence of Coli. — In no case were all the results 
negative in samples collected at the surface. In only nine 
cases were negative results obtained with o.i c.c, and of 
these, six were in localities where other tests gave positi\-e 
results with o.i c.c, viz.: Newtown creek, off the South 
Brooklyn shore and the Hudson river at Spuyten Duyvil. 
From this it appears that the colon bacillus was present in 



40 

large numbers, as far as this test is capable of proving the 
presence of the colon bacillus, at all points above the Narrows 
and probabh^ in the Lower bay. 

The greatest depth at which the test was positive, both 
w^ith O.I c.c. and i c.c. of water, was 50 feet. This occurred 
near pier 10, East river, on the Manhattan side. One posi- 
tive result for i c.c. was found at 60 feet. No positive re- 
sults whatever were obtained at 100 feet. 

(b) Absence of Coll in Deep Water. — The circum- 
stances which caused this germ, so characteristic of sewage, 
to exist abundantly at the surface of the w^ater and not at the 
bottom are not entirely understood. Turning for explanation 
to other parts of the analytical data, it is found that the num- 
bers of bacteria of all kinds in the water were smaller in the 
depths than at the surface and that this difference was marked. 

2. COLI IN THE SOLID MATTER AT THE HARBOR BOTTOM 

When samples of solid matter from the bottom of the 
harbor were anal3^zed for colon bacilli, these germs were 
usually found to be present. The number of these analyses 
was 322. The samples were collected from 243 places. 

(a) Coli at the Surface of the bottom. — Evidence of 
colon bacilli was absent in only seven samples of surface ma- 
terialj viz., three in the East river, one in Newtown creek 
and three in the Lower bay. These seven exceptions do not 
necessarily indicate that the bacilli were actually absent, for 
the sample used was very small and the method of analysis 
not infallible. Had duplicate samples been taken the results 
might have been different. 

Analyses for colon bacilli were made with 32 samples of 
solid matter from the bottom of the Lower bay. Li ten of 
these the evidence was positive with both i c.c. and o.i c.c. 
of water. In 19 cases the results were positive for i c.c. 
negative for o. i c.c. Li only the three cases just noted were 
the results negative for both i c.c. and o.i c.c. 

From the foregoing it seems safe to infer that the colon 
bacillus was present, so far as the presumptive test could 



41 

prove the existence of this hacillus. at the surface of the bot- 
tom of the harbor at all points in the Upper and Lower bays, 
including the rivers and canals. 

(b) Coli Below the Surface of the Bottom. — Twenty-five 
tests for the colon bacillus were made of material taken at 
different depths down to 6 feet below the surface of the bot- 
tom. At 6 feet all results were positive for tw'O locations, 
viz., the Harlem river at One Hundred and Thirty-third 
street and the East river at the foot of State street, Brooklyn. 
All results were positive for the bottom of the Hudson river 
off the piers of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The Har- 
lem river material generally gave positive results with samples 
of I c.c. down to 6 feet below the surface of the bottom, but 
not always with samples as small as o.i c.c. The material in 
the Spuyten Duyvil creek gave a positive result only once, 
viz., at the surface with i c.c. ; no positive results were ob- 
tained with material collected from below the surface. 

From the foregoing it appears safe to infer that so far 
as the presumptive test can show, the colon bacillus exists 
very generally in the solid matter below the surface of the 
bottom in the main divisions of the harbor and in the more 
polluted tributaries. In some localities this bacillus appears 
to be present in large numbers to a considerable depth below 
the bottom. It so happens that the points where this organism 
was most prevalent are localities where a great deal of sewage 
is discharged. On the other hand, all parts of the harbor 
which receive heavy contributions of sewage did not yield 
colon bacilli, at least, not in such numbers as miHit be 
expected. 



D. Results of Chemical Analyses 

I. FREE AMMONIA IN THE W^^TER 

The number of samples of water analyzed for free 
ammonia was 47. Of these, two were taken near pier A, 
at the mouth of the Hudson river, and the rest near the shore 
of South Brooklvn. 



42 

The amount of free ammonia varied widely, the limits 
being 0.005 to 1.65 parts per million. The smaller of these 
two is recorded as found about 500 feet from the pier at 
Fifty-second street, Brooklyn, 10 feet below the surface of 
the water, on January 29, 1907.° The maximum was found 
between the piers at Forty-ninth street and Fifty- third streets, 
Brooklyn, on January 24, 1907. 

(a) Comparison zmth Other Results. — By way of com- 
parison it is to be noted that the maximum amount found by 
the New York Bay Pollution Commission was 0.210 near 
pier I, North river, and the minimum 0.052 near Sandy Hook 
light vessel. The minimum found at the surface in 1907 was 
0.008 off Fifty-second street, Brooklyn, January 28. 

From the foregoing it is evident that the range in the 
amount of free ammonia found was not only much greater 
in the samples analyzed in 1907 than in those examined by 
the New York Bay Pollution Commission, but was remark- 
able, the minimum for its smallness and the maximum for its 
greatness. It is scarcely conceivable that there was really 
only one-tenth as much ammonia in the water off Fifty-second 
street as in the water of the open ocean. 

The average of 24 samples collected during the clay and 
night at different depths off Fifty-second street, Brooklyn, 
January 28, 1907, was o.oii, an exceedingly small amount. 
The average found at the surface was 0.013, or scarcely more 
than the general average just mentioned. 

These amounts of ammonia are so very small that they 
would not cause suspicion of pollution to be cast upon the 
sample if it had been drinking water. It is decidedly less 
than the figure found in any sample of water from New York 
bay or the Hudson as given in either of the two published re- 
ports of the Pollution Commission. There is no apparent ex- 
planation for these curious data, and the conclusion is irre- 
sistible that they were inaccurate. 

(b) Relation to Tide and Depth. — The amount of free 
ammonia found oft* pier A was 0.167 on the flood and 0.1628, 
or practically the same, on an ebb tide. This may be com- 
pared with 0.210 found by the Pollution Commission in 1904. 



43 

The free ammonia decreased as the depth increased when 
the initial amount was very high, as, for example, in three 
cases wdiere i.ooo part or more was found at the surface. 
The three examples referred to were : near Forty-ninth street, 
Brooklyn, at a depth of i foot, the free ammonia was 1.54; 
at 20 feet, 0.224. Again, at 2 feet, 1.65; at 10 feet, 0.396; at 
20 feet, 0.158, Finally, at 2 feet, 1.005; at 10 feet, 0.355; ^^ 
20 feet, 0.380. No such differences were noted in the second 
Pollution Commission report. 

When there was little ammonia at the surface there was 
often less at a slight depth and more again further down. 
Taking ten analyses representing three depths : at the surface, 
10 feet and 20 feet below, the average amount of ammonia 
was 0.777, 0.061 and 0.666 respectively. An excess found 
at 20 feet over that at 10 feet occurred in nine out of ten 
cases. Assuming that the analyses were accurate, the simplest 
explanation of this singular reduction and increase is that 
the water was most polluted at the surface, as indeed from 
other evidence it is known to have been, and that the increase 
at 20 feet was due to an admixture with mud or other refuse 
stirred up from the bottom. No analyses were made of water 
collected from depths of more than 20 feet below the surface. 

(c) Diurnal Variations. — When samples were collected 
tlirough the day and night of January 28, it was found that 
the greatest amount of ammonia was present at noon and the 
least at 3 :oo a. m., using the data for all depths to give these 
averages. 

Considered as a whole, these determinations of free am- 
monia throw little new light upon the questions which needed 
study, and it seems so likely that they were inaccurate that it 
appears best to eliminate them from further consideration. 

2. ALBUMINOID AMMONIA IN THE WATER 

The samples of water which were analyzed for free am- 
monia also were examined for albuminoid ammonia. As has 
been said, there were 47 samples and they were all collected 
either from the mouth of the Hudson or near the South Brook- 
lyn shore. 



44 

The albuminoid ammonia varied as did the free ammonia 
with respect to depth and time. 

(a) Minimum and Maxiniiun Results. — The minimum 
amount of albuminoid ammonia was less than found in any 
of the previous examinations recorded by the New York Bay 
Pollution Commission. The least amount was 0.014 parts 
per million on January 29, 1907, off Fifty-second street, 
Brooklyn, at depths of 10 and 20 feet. The least amount 
found near the surface was 0.016 on the same day at the 
same place. By w^ay of comparison it may be noted that the 
smallest amount of albuminoid ammonia recorded in the first 
published report of the Pollution Commission was o. 100 off 
pier I, North river, and in the second report 0.170 in the Har- 
lem river. 

The maximum amount of albuminoid ammonia was 
higher than that given in any previous report, viz., 1.94, off 
Fifty-ninth street, Brooklyn. The second report of the Pol- 
lution Commission gave, as a maximum, 1.430; this was 
found near the Sixty-fifth street sewer. South Brooklyn. The 
maximum amount of free ammonia recorded in the second 
report of the Pollution Commission was 7.000; this oc- 
curred in Gowanus canal, where in 1907 only 1.65 was 
found. 

(b) Signiiicancc of Results. — The results of analyses 
of albuminoid ammonia wdiich were made by the Metro- 
politan Commission or its predecessor, the New York Bay 
Pollution Commission, were too few and two restricted 
in locality to enable useful conclusions to be drawn from 
them. They seem to indicate, when taken w^ith the data for 
free ammonia, a general correspondence with the intensity of 
sewage pollution. It would be unfair, however, to assume 
that the exceptionally small amounts of ammonia found in 
some of the samples indicated exceptional freedom from 
sewage. Such a conclusion would be in opposition to all evi- 
dence collected from other quarters. Considering this matter 
as a whole, it probably is best to take no account of the deter- 
minations of ammonia made in 1907, since it is practically 
certain that thev were inaccurate. 



45 

3- CHLORINE IN THE WATER 

(a) Value of Results. — Taken separately, or in connec- 
tion with the resuhs of previous analyses of the New York 
Bay Polkition Commission, the chlorine analyses made for 
the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission constitute a fairly 
large mass of data, and throw important light upon the ad- 
mixture of sea water and river water in the harbor and its 
various tributaries. 

The difference in salinity at points more or less removed 
from the ocean is clearly shown by the data; as is the smaller 
amount of chlorine, or, as may be said, sea water, on ebb tide 
than on flood tide. 

Several series of samples collected at different depths and 
at different points show that the saltest water generally lies 
at the greatest depth. 

There were 802 samples of water analyzed for chlorine 
in 1907. Until a certain date the samples were collected at 
the same time as, though they were not identical with, the 
samples collected for analysis for bacteria. After that date 
determinations of chlorine Were omitted. The samples were 
all taken between January 8 and September 17, 1907. They 
were collected at different depths down to 100 feet below the 
surface of the water. 

(b) Intcrinixture of Sea and Land Water. — The sea 
water appears to have been thoroughly mixed with the river 
water in the samples collected at the Narrows, Kill van KuU 
and lower East river; but in samples collected in the Upper 
bay, in the Hudson river near the Battery and in the Harlem 
river, considerably fresher water was found at the surface 
than in the depths below. During a freshet in the Hudson 
river the water at the mouth of that stream contained 2,870 
parts of chlorine per million at the surface and 9,960 at the 
bottom. In other words, the water was nearly four times as 
salt at the bottom as at the top. This was on March 21, 1907. 
Yet the water at the surface was by no means fresh. 

Marked differences in salinity between samples of water 
collected at the same time at points removed from one an- 



46 

Other by a few yards, indicate that the sea water does not 
diffuse with the land water instantly the two come in contact, 
bnt that this intermixture is relatively slow. In the process 
of intermingling, large, strong currents of sea and land water 
seem to interlace themselves in an endless variety of ways. 

A number of charts and diagrams have been made which 
show the variations which were found in the amount of 
chlorine at different depths and at different points in the 
harbor. 

4. LOSS ON IGNITION 

(a) Water. — The number of samples of water subjected 
to the test know^n as loss on ignition was 130. The samples 
were all collected in the ten days between October 18 and 
28, 1907. 

The determination w^as made by evaporating a sample of 
the water to dryness, weighing, and then heating the residue 
to such a temperature as would volatilize such parts as could 
be driven off by heat. The difference between the weight of 
the residue before and after volatilization was called the loss 
on ignition. This test was once much employed by sanitarians 
to show the amount of organic matter in drinking water, but 
it has generally been given up as unreliable. 

The data obtained in these analyses have been plotted in 
graphic form, the results of three series of observations being 
used for this purpose : two from Newark bay and one from 
Gowanus canal. The figures in each series are lowest for 
the head of the bay and canal, where the pollution is known 
to be greatest. They are also lowest for the surface of the 
water in more than half the cases. 

Thus the loss on ignition gives directly opposite evidence 
from the bacteriological and other indications of pollution. 
Apparently in these cases the greatest loss on ignition oc- 
curred where the pollution was least. This result needs ex- 
planation, but none is forthcoming from the data. Regarded 
as a whole, it is unsafe to attach any importance at the pres- 



47 

ent time to the results of these analyses. It is possible, of 
course, that information which may be collected later may 
show that they have considerable value. 

(b) Solid Matter from the Bottom of the Harbor. — There 
were 566 samples of solid matter from the harbor bottom 
which were analyzed for loss on ignition, and they were col- 
lected between May 3 and October 28, 1907. The results are 
expressed in parts per million by weight of mud dried at 105^ 
Centigrade. 

The results have been collected into several series; one to 
show the data obtained from samples collected at different 
depths below the surface of the bottom of the Harlem river 
from Spuyten Duyvil drawbridge to Randall's Island and 
another along the Brooklyn water-front from Conover street 
to Clark street. 

As far as depth below the surface of the bottom is con- 
cerned, the analyses indicate that the amount of volatile matter 
bears no relation to the depth at which the sample was taken. 
The loss on ignition was not relatively the same at all depths ; 
it was sometimes greatest at the surface of the bottom ; some- 
times at the greatest depth reached below the surface, and 
sometimes at a point somewhere between. In this respect the 
figures for loss on ignition differ decidedly from the figures 
for bacteria. It will be remembered that the bacteria became 
fewer as the depth increased. 

The volatile matter found in the solid material taken from 
the harbor bottom varied about as did the numbers of bac- 
teria, judging by the two series of results which have been 
studied. As a rule the loss on ignition was relatively great 
where the bacteria w^ere comparatively numerous and the fig- 
ures for both bacteria and loss on ignition were small in the 
same localities. The loss on ignition was slight in samples 
of solid matter collected from the bottom of the Harlem river 
at Kingsbridge, and here the bacteria in the mud were com- 
paratively few. Again, the figures for both bacteria and loss 
on ignition are large for the lower Harlem. In a series of 
samples collected along the Brooklyn water-front both the 



48 

bacteria and loss on ignition were greater from point to point 
going north. 

5. COLOR OF THE WATER. 

There were 907 determinations of color made, covering 
a period from January 8 to October 18, 1907. The samples 
were the same as used for other determinations, being taken 
from different places at different depths, at different times of 
tide, etc. 

In general, the color of the water appeared to vary with 
the relative proportions of sea and land water. It was highest 
in the Hudson river and Harlem river at Spuyten Duyvil and 
at the mouth of the Passaic river, and lowest at the Narrows. 
There was much color also at times off the sewers of South 
Brooklyn, in the Atlantic basin, Wallabout channel. Coney 
Island creek and Gowanus canal. The greatest arr\ount of 
color was found in Newtown creek, where the most trade 
wastes were noted. 

The results of the color determinations, when plotted, 
show a steady increase in color proceeding from the Narrows, 
with an average of 8^2, into the different arms of the harbor 
and the rivers. The water of the East river was less colored 
than the Hudson and perhaps less at times than the Upper 
bay. The water of the Harlem river was less colored than 
the Hudson, but more than the East River. The maximum 
figure for the Gowanus canal was 60, Atlantic basin 120, 
Wallabout channel 65, Newtown creek 1,300. 

If large numbers of bacteria are a satisfactory index of 
sewage pollution, then the color determinations are not con- 
elusive. With a figure of 120 for color in the Atlantic basin, 
the bacteria numbered 10,500; while in water discolored with 
sewage off Sixty-fifth street, Brooklyn, the color was only 30, 
with 808,000 bacteria. With a figure of 1,300 for the highest 
color found In Newtown creek, the bacteria numbered only 
2,100, but the bacteria In this case may have been diminished 
by trade waste. 



49 

Any effect on color which may have been produced by the 
season is not so evident as in the case of turbidity. Still, 
there are two cases which illustrate a diminution in color from 
winter to summer. Off pier A in the Hudson river two color 
determinations made in January averaged 27.5; those made in 
February averaged 16.9; in March, 17. i; in July, 13.0. In 
the East river a series taken along the centre of the channel 
on j\Iarch 7 were more highly colored than other tests which 
were made in June and after. 

The color generally appeared to diminish with the depth. 
This was noticed in the Lower bay, Kill van Kull, Hudson 
river and Harlem river, but exceptions occurred which are not 
easily explained. It is possible that the exceptions may have 
been due to variations in the mixing of sea and land water by 
different currents. 

One series of results show a diminution in color in the 
Harlem proceeding from the Hudson river east, which is 
what one would expect. But another showed a maximum 
of color at the southeast end of the Harlem. A study of the 
probable color of the Harlem at different times of the tide 
has suggested an explanation of these phenomena. This 
explanation is that the whole current of water passing through 
the river has a point of least color at about the centre, with 
more color to the west than to the east, and again a diminu- 
tion at the east. 

The color does not seem to vary much with the tides, but 
at the Narrows the color w^as less with flood current than with 
ebb current. 

The color was higher near sewers, and a high result at one 
single point in the Harlem may be due to coloring matter from 
the Park avenue sewer, which was near the point with a 
favorable current. The effect of trade wastes seems much 
more marked, especially in Newtown creek, where samples 
were taken near points of discharge from manufactories. 



50 

6. TURBIDITY 

There were 870 determinations of turbidity. All were 
made from the same samples as those used for color. The 
turbidity results cannot be averaged, the variations at any one 
place being too great. 

As an indication of pollution the turbidity determinations 
are of little use. A turbidity of 2 in the Gowanus canal was 
found, while as much as 23 was found near Robbins Reef 
light. A turbidity of 2 was also found in the waters of New- 
town creek, Wallabout bay and Erie basin. Turbidities as 
low as I were found in the Atlantic basin. The maximum was 
2,000 in Newtown creek, near a chemical works and sewer. 

The turbidity was greatest in the winter and spring, and 
suddenly fell off after June nth. A careful study of the rain- 
fall of the vicinity and the Hudson watershed affords no ex- 
planation of this change. The turbidity varied more with the 
season than with the rainfall. There were, however, well de- 
fined increases after rains, especially in the Hudson off Spuy- 
ten Duyvil. 

Two cases of greater turbidity with ebb current than with 
flood current occurred at the Narrows. The same occurred in 
Newark bay; the turbidity increased, passing north to the 
mouth of the Passaic river. 

The nearness of sewers to the locations of samples may 
sometimes account for much turbidity, as in the Harlem near 
Park avenue, where the color was also high. But a result of 
3 was also found just south of the Sixty-fourth street sewer, 
Brooklyn. The greatest turbidity was in Newtown creek and 
Gowanus canal, but some high turbidities were also found near 
Ellis Island. 

No definite relation of turbidity to depth was clear. The 
turbidity w^as sometimes greatest at the bottom, sometimes at 
the top, sometimes in the centre of a channel, or at one side 
or near the centre. Perhaps the greatest turbidity generally 
occurred at the bottom, toward the sides of the channels. 



51 

E. The Flow of Tidal Currents as Studied by Means 

OF Floats 

I. METHODS 

Observations of the currents of the harbor by means of 
floats were made on 2"] days. They were made in seven gen- 
eral locaHties, as follows : 

Upper Hudson river 4 days 

Lower Hudson river 2 days 

East river 2 days 

Kill van Kull 2 days 

Upper bay exclusively 5 days 

Lower bay exclusively i day 

Both Upper and Lower bays 1 1 days 

2^ days 

The first records are for February 23 and the last for 
July 22, 1907. The observations of floats cover, therefore, 
so far as season is concerned, the late winter, spring and 
summer. 

(a) Object of These Studies. — The float observations 
were made to trace the flow of the main harbor currents, to 
ascertain the course taken by sewage from the vicinity of 
important existing sewers, and especially the course followed 
by the harbor currents which flowed by the proposed outlet 
of the Passaic valley sewer. Observations were also made to 
determine the direction and rate of flow close along the shores 
of the harbor where sewage was then discharged. Many 
observations were made to determine where floats would be 
carried when started from a given point at dift'erent stages 
of tide. 

The floats were designed to show the paths of the cur- 
rents at a uniform depth of 5 feet below the surface of the 
water. The floats consisted of a wooden upright 8 feet long, 
2 inches by 2 inches in section. At the bottom of the up- 
right were nailed four wings of sheet iron, each 24 inches 



52 

deep by 24 inches wide. A cork float was placed near the 
top of the upriglit and the whole was surmounted by a flag-. 

(b) Behavior of Floats. — The wind seems to have had 
little effect upon these floats, but it is worth noting that they 
frequently went ashore. In the East river and Hudson river 
the floats repeatedly sought the east bank. On such occasions 
the float was taken up and set out perpendicular to the shore 
at such a distance as seemed likely to insure a clear course 
for the future. No reason has been offered for this ground- 
ing of the floats, and such studies as can be made now of the 
probable behavior of the wind at the time the observations 
were made throw little light upon the matter. 

(c) Location of Floats. — In all cases the floats were at- 
tended by a small power boat, which warned off vessels and 
enabled records to be made from time to time of the location 
of the float. At first the location was determined by noting 
the proximity of docks, public buildings and other known 
points on land, but later the positions were ascertained by 
means of a sextant sighted upon landmarks. 

The results of these studies as given in the notebooks of 
the observers have been carefully plotted on maps, but great 
exactness has been impossible, especially in dealing with the 
data collected before the end of June, for until that time the 
positions of the floats were not recorded with accuracy. After 
about the first of July the positions were located by sextants. 
This permitted the results to be plotted with precision by the 
use of three-point protractors. 

2. RESULTS 

(a) Flushing Action of the Tide. — Some interesting re- 
sults were obtained by starting floats near Robbins Reef light 
in Upper New York bay. Observations were made on 8 days. 
The farthest point north to which a float was carried by a 
flood current was Fifty-fourth street in the Hudson river, on 
March 5, 1907. The distance was about 8 miles, and was 
covered in 5 hours, 45 minutes. The farthest point south 
reached with an ebb current was about iij^ miles. This was 
on Februarv 26] the time consumed was 6 hours. 



53 

The minimum distance north covered during a complete 
flood tide was 6 miles; this was on July 17. The minimum 
distance south covered during an ebb current was something 
over 6 miles; this was on July 8. 

Observations were made to trace the movement of a float 
through a wdiole tide along the Brooklyn shore south of Go- 
wanus bay. A float started at the mouth of Gowanus bay 
P'ebruary 2^, 1907, was carried out to Romer Shoal light, a 
distance of about 12 miles, in 7 hours. A flood current carried 
a float from Fifty-sixth street, Brooklyn, on April 6, only 
about 2 miles northeast along the shore, occupying 5 hours 
in passage. This last record suggests that this part of the 
harbor may have an excess of current flowing south, but the 
observations were not sufficient to establish this point. It is 
to be noted that these two series of observations were made 
toward the end of February, when freshet conditions may 
have existed in the Hudson, bringing down an unusual volume 
of fresh water to the sea. 

Whether there is an excess of water flowing out of the 
bay at every tide was not shown by the float studies. No 
observations covered a complete tidal cycle. The longest 
series of observations covered 9 hours, 50 minutes. Four 
series of observations in the Lower bay, where a float was' 
carried out by an ebb tide and back by a flood tide on about 
the same path, showed that the distance covered in the two 
hours before the tide changed was about 70 per cent, greater 
than the distance covered in the first two hours after the time 
of low tide. The maximum distance a float w^as carried by 
an ebb tide in the different parts of the harbor was always 
greater than the maximum distance carried by a flood tide. 

The maximum velocity of a float in any locality always 
occurred on an ebb tide. It should be remembered that a 
greater velocity in one direction does not of necessity mean 
that a greater volume of water was passing in that direction. 

The distance traveled by a float set adrift at any point on 
a given stage of tide was not by any means always the same, 
but varied widely. 

(b) Maximum and Minimmn Distances Covered. — The 
longest distance covered during one tide in the Upper and 



54 

Lower bay alone was about 12 miles. This occurred on two 
days: February 23 and April 12, both during ebb tides. The 
shortest distance covered in a single tide was about 2 miles; 
this was during a flood tide, and the observations were made 
near the Brooklyn shore. The longest distance covered by a 
float in the Hudson river w-as 12K miles; this happened on 
July 19. The longest distance starting in the East river was 
I4j< miles ; this occurred on March 29. 

The longest time occupied by a float going in any general 
direction was 7 hours; this was during an ebb tide on Febru- 
ary 23. The shortest period of ebb current was 5 hours; this 
was on April 12. 

The longest period of flood current was 6}i hours; this 
was on March 5. The shortest was 5 hours; this occurred: 
on April 6 and 8. 

It is evident from these figures that the tidal period is 
not regular, but may vary considerably in duration. There- 
fore, the distance traveled by a float depends not only upon 
the velocity of the current, but also upon the period of time 
during which the velocity is maintained. 

Whether the main currents ahvays flow in regular and un- 
varying courses W'as not positively shown by the floats, but 
it seems fairly certain that they do not do so. Floats w-ere 
sometimes carried to different points when started from tlie 
same spot and on the same stage of tide. Starting from a 
point near Robbins Reef light, an ebb current carried a float 
dowai Ambrose channel to the southeast on two occasions, 
and at three other times southwest into the Lower bay. 

(c) Currents Near Shore and in Midstream. — That the 
currents move much more slowly near the shore than in mid- 
stream is shown by tw^o observations made in the upper Hud- 
son. A float was started on two occasions on an ebb current 
from the same point off Yonkers. One, started on July 19, 
in the centre of the river, covered 12% miles before the tide 
turned. The time consumed was 6j^ hours. Another started 
near the east shore three days later covered only about 6j4 
miles in six hours. 



55 



Section III, 



Investigation Made by the Department of 

Water Supply, Gas and Electricity of the 

City of New York in 1904 and 1905 



Studies of the sanitary condition of the water along the 
shores of Manhattan and Brooklyn were made by the City of 
New York in 1904 and 1905 in connection with the installation 
of an auxiliary fire service. The object was to determine 
whether the water was suitable for extinguishing fires and to 
determine the points where it would be best to locate the in- 
takes. 

The investigations were made in two periods : the first 
between March 2 and 13, 1904, and the second between Feb- 
ruary 3 and March 29, 1905. There were, in all, 383 samples 
of water collected. The samples were analyzed for numbers 
of bacteria, B. coli, free ammonia, albuminoid ammonia, 
nitrites, nitrates and chlorine. 

Most of the samples were taken 2 feet below the surface 
of the water. At seven places samples were taken at depths 
of from 4 to 25 feet. Some of the samples were collected 
close to the bulkheads, and the others between the shore 
and the outer ends of the piers, or from 200 to 700 feet 
outward. In interpreting the data the times of high and low 
water have been obtained from automatic tide gauge records 
kindly supplied by the Department of Docks and Ferries. 
From these records estimates have been made of the probable 
currents. 

The samples along the Brooklyn shore were taken between 
Gold street and the basin near Beard street. The samples 
near the Manhattan shore were collected from the East river 
between James slip and East Seventeenth street, and from the 
Hudson river between Chambers street and West Twenty- 
second street. These localities have since been visited and 
a careful study has been made of each situation for the pur- 
poses of this report. 



56 

Notwithstanding the care taken to interpret the results, 
the data add Httle to the information from other sources. In 
fact, a considerable part of the data contradicts information 
otherwise collected, and the figures sometimes contradict 
themselves. Some samples appear to have been free from 
sewage, which, from other information, would seem to have 
been polluted, and vice versa. For the first and only time in 
the records of analyses of the harbor waters, the currents 
flowing toward the sea contained more ocean water than the 
currents flowing from the sea. 



A. Bacterial Results 

I. NUMBERS OF BACTERIA 

The numbers of bacteria were notably large in the East 
river from the Brooklyn bridge eastward and greatest during 
the ebb current. This result seems reasonable since large 
Cjuantities of sewage are discharged into the East river and 
more to the east of Brooklyn bridge than west of that point. 

(a) Variations in Numbers. — The hourly variations in 
numbers of bacteria found in the more open parts of the 
harbor by the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission in 1907 do 
not seem to have existed in the waters along the piers and 
bulkheads. 

A noticeable feature of the analyses for bacteria is the 
variation in numbers found at the same place on different 
occasions. An example of this occurred in the records of 
analyses of water from the foot of Houston street. Here the 
maximum number of bacteria was 48,000 and the minimum 
600. The probable explanation of this difference lies in the 
fact that a large sewer discharges into the river at Clarkson 
street a few hundred feet away. It is likely that changes of 
current due to differences in tide led to the difference noted. 

Another instance of a marked difference occurred at Gold 
street, Brooklyn. Here the maximum number of bacteria was 
98,000 at a depth of 10 feet below the surface of the water, 
while the minimum was 1,310 at the same depth. There is 



57 

also a sewer discharging at the foot of this street and the 
differences in the numbers of bacteria were probably due to 
differences in the pollution produced by the sewage as it was 
carried to and fro by the currents. In this case and the pre- 
ceding one the condition of the water noted must have been 
temporary; in fact, the quality of the water along all the 
docks and wharves where the sewers discharge is probably 
changing constanth^ The extent of these changes is w^ell 
indicated by the fact that a range of 600 to 28,000 bacteria 
occurred on one day at one place. 

Another interesting feature of the data is the fact that the 
number of bacteria was sometimes smaller in the immediate 
vicinity of sewers than at a distance from any polluting 
source. The conditions at Oliver street, Brooklyn, may be 
cited as a case where the water was much freer from sewage 
than a knowledge of the surroundings would lead one to ex- 
pect. For example, the largest number of bacteria found on 
an ebb or flood tide off pier 33 at the foot of Oliver street, 
Brooklyn, was 10,000, although a sewer discharges within a 
few^ hundred feet under pier 34. It is possible that this small 
number could be accounted for by the fact that the sev/er 
outlet is situated farther from shore than the point where the 
samples were taken, so that the sewage was rapidly carried 
away. 

Small numbers of bacteria were also found at pier 20, foot 
of Chambers street, Hudson river, although the presence of 
a sewer under the next pier to the north and the finding of 
visible traces of sewage along one side of pier 20 would lead 
one to expect large numbers of bacteria. A similar condition, 
difficult to explain, seems to have existed when the samples 
w^ere taken at Hamilton avenue, Brooklyn. 

(b) Complexity of Conditions. — Studies made of the path 
taken by sewage as it flows from the sewer outlets into the 
rivers of New York harbor have shown that there is no regu- 
larity about the course followed. The stream of sewage seems 
always to lie at or near the surface of the water into which 
it is discharged. It may flow in one direction for a few mo- 



58 

ments and then follow an entirely different course, preserving 
its identity for a long period. 

(c) Conditions at Bulkheads and Pierheads Compared. — 
Four series of samples were collected to show the conditions 
which occurred simultaneously at bulkheads and pierheads. 
These series were made at three different places. 

At the foot of Joralemon street, Brooklyn, the bacteria 
were, on two occasions, fewer in number proceeding from the 
bulkhead out to a point beyond the pierhead. This result is 
explained by the fact that a sewer discharges at the bulkhead 
at this point. 

Different results were obtained at the foot of Cham- 
bers street, Hudson river, and Oliver street. East river. 
Here the bacteria were more numerous at the pierheads than 
at the bulkheads. At these points there are no sewers at the 
bulkheads, but sewers discharge at two points in the imme- 
diate vicinity — Duane and Oliver streets, where outfalls are 
located near the pierheads. 

(d) Relation of Depth. — The relation of depth to the 
numbers of bacteria 'is indicated by the results of samples 
taken at 7 places at depths of 2 feet and more below the 
surface. At two places the numbers were, on the whole, 
greater near the surface than below. At five places the num- 
bers were greater at greater depths. It will be noted that this 
result is contrary to the result found generally in 1907 by the 
Metropolitan Sewerage Commission. 

B. Comparison With Other Analyses 

When the analyses made by the Department of Water 
Supply, Gas and Electricty in 1904 and 1905 are compared 
with the analyses made by the Metropolitan Sewerage Com- 
mission in 1907, some interesting facts become evident. De- 
terminations of numbers of bacteria in the water were made 
at four points by both the authorities mentioned, namely, at 
Oliver street, Gansevoort street, Conover street and Coney 
Island creek. At the first three of these places the bacteria 



59 

were greater in number in 1907 than formerly, but more bac- 
teria were found in Coney Island creek in 1904 than in 1907. 
It is not certain, however, that the conditions under which 
these samples were taken were such as to make the results, 
strictly comparable. 

To give some idea of the numbers of bacteria found at 
Oliver street, Manhattan, Gansevoort street, Conover street 
and Coney Island creek, a few more details of the analyses 
may be of service. At the foot of Oliver street at the inner 
end of the slip, the number of bacteria i foot below the sur- 
face was 17,000 during a flood current in 1907. In 1905, two 
samples taken at the bulkhead of pier 2,3, at the foot of Oliver 
street, at about the same tidal stage, gave counts of 2,360 and 
1,960. 

At the foot of Gansevoort street in 1907 the number of 
bacteria during a flood current was 9,500; in 1905 the num- 
bers ranged from 330 to 1,500 with a flood current. During 
an ebb current in 1907 the bacteria numbered 8,500, while in 
1905, under similar conditions, the numbers ranged from 780 
to 2,610. 

At the foot of Conover street, Brooklyn, the count in 1907 
was 8,100 during an ebb current; in 1904 the numbers ranged 
from 1,010 to 1,420, with probably a flood current. 

For Coney Island creek in 1907 the count was 10,500, 
soon after low water; in 1904 the average of the series of 
samples taken at about the same stage of tide was about 
12,500, w^ith a maximum during the flood current of 30,000. 
Another series gave a range of 710 to 15,000. 



2. COLI IN THE WATER 

The results of the coli determinations follow, in a general 
way, the results obtained in estimating the numbers of bac- 
teria in the water, except that there were many times, when 
no coli were found, when the numbers of bacteria and the 
free and albuminoid ammonias in the water would lead one 
to the opinion that heavy pollution existed. In one series of 
185 determinations made from samples collected along the 



6o 



Hudson and East river docks, there was no evidence of the 
colon bacilkis in 56 per cent, of the cases. At the foot of 
Houston street no indications of the bacilhis were found five 
times out of seven, although the numbers of bacteria and the 
amounts of free and albuminoid ammonias were large. 

C. Chemical Results 

I. FREE AMMONIA^ ALBUMINOID AMMONIA^ NITRITES AND 

NITRATES 

The analyses for free and albuminoid ammonia, nitrites 
and nitrates, add little to the knowledge available concerning 
the condition of the water. Taken together with determina- 
tions of the numbers of bacteria they are sometimes in con- 
flict with themselves as to the proof of pollution — one class 
of data indicating pollution, while another does not. In a 
series of observations made every day for one week at the 
foot of Joralemon street, Brooklyn, the results were particu- 
larly conflicting and confusing. In view of all the circum- 
stances it seems unwise to attempt to draw inferences from 
these data. 

2. CHLORINE 

The determinations of chlorine have given results which 
are also difhcult to explain. The amount of chlorine often 
appears to have been greater when the current was flowing 
toward the sea than when it was flowing from the ocean, a 
result so at variance with what has uniformly been observed 
in all the other data that no explanation of it can be given. 



6i 



Section IV, 



Investigations Made by Charles F. Breitzke 
in 1906 of the Sanitary Condition 
of Qowanus Canal* 



A study of the sanitary condition of Gowanus canal was 
made in 1906 by Charles F. Breitzke. The results of this study 
were submitted by Mr. Breitzke in the form of a thesis which 
was offered in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the 
degree of Bachelor of Science. An abstract of this thesis 
appeared in the " Technology Quarterly/' Boston, Vol. XXL, 
No. 3, September, 1908. It is mainly from this account that 
the following notes are taken. The statements of data and 
opinion are those of the author of the thesis. 

The work done was divided into three parts : A, Sanitary 
Survey ; B, Analyses ; and C, Discussion of the Data. The 
total number of analyses recorded in the paper is about 40 ; 
30 more are referred to but are not reported in detail. The 
analytical work was done at the Mount Prospect Laboratory, 
Brooklyn. 

A. Sanitary Survey 

Gowanus canal, with its various branches or basins, is 
about two miles in length, about 100 feet wide, and averages 
10 feet in depth. It is closed at its upper end, and its lower 
end opens upon that part of Upper New York harbor known 
as Gowanus bay. 

The immediate shores of the canal are occupied by fac- 
tories, including chemical works, gas works, oil refineries, salt 
works, ice plants, asphalt and paving material plants, building 
material yards, coal and wood yards, power houses, machine 
shops and foundries, storage warehouses, junk yards and city 
refuse dumps. 

The assessed value of the land fronting the canal Is 
$3,315,000. An average of 87 vessels pass in or out of the 



* An investigation of the sanitary condition of the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn. New 
York. By Charles F. Breitzke. Printed in the Technology Quarterly, Vol. XXI., No. 
3, pp. 243-279. September, 1908. Boston, Mass. 



62 

canal each day. Immediately adjoining the commercial sec- 
tion which borders the canal is a thickly populated tenement 
district, with better class residences at a distance of a quarter 
of a mile or so. 

The waters of the canal are polluted by the drainage of 
the industrial plants on its shores, by six so-called storm 
water sewers, ranging from y2 inches to 90 inches in diam- 
eter, carrying more or less house sewage, and by six sewers 
for household drainage, ranging from 12 inches to 48 inches 
in diameter. At the very head of the canal is a relief sewer, 
15 feet in diameter, which, although intended to accommo- 
date only storm water, discharges house sewage and slaugh- 
ter-house drainage. 

The canal is constantly filling up, as may be judged from 
the fact that in the 27 years between 1875 and 1902, $42,- 
092.20 were spent for dredging. At the time of this study 
the canal had filled so much at its upper end that barges went 
aground, and the water was said to be of inadequate depth 
for fire boats. 

The only water which enters the canal and is available for 
flushing it out flows in from the harbor, except after heavy 
rains, when the water discharged by the storm sewers pro- 
duces a little current. 

The surface of the w^ater in the canal is covered with oil, 
coal dust, and a scum consisting in part of human feces. 
Below^ the surface the water is black, warm and foul. Gases 
constantly bubble up through the water. The stench is heavy, 
especially in summer, and is noticeable at all times at a dis- 
tance of several hundred feet from the canal. Under certain 
conditions of weather large sections of the city to the north- 
east and east are affected by the odor. Fish have not been 
caught in the canal for many years. 

In short, the canal is an open sewer, or, rather, an open 
septic tank. The canal water is devoid of oxygen, and, in 
consequence, solid matter which is deposited from the sewers 
putrefies and gives off offensive odors. The trouble arises 
chiefly from the presence of house sewage, although the in- 
dustrial drainage is partly to blame. 



63 

B. Analytical Results 

The results o£ the analyses ^represent the examination of 
two series of samples. It was intended that they should be 
collected throughout the length of the canal in such a way as 
to give a good indication of this water in its entirety, as well 
as in its various parts. 

The first series of samples was taken February 3, 1906, 
when there had been no rain, and was believed to represent 
the average conditions which occur under such circumstances 

The second series was taken April 16, 1906, after a rain- 
storm, which had carried a considerable amount of street and 
other surface water through the sewers into the canal. This 
second series, therefore, was believed to indicate the condi- 
tion of the canal when stirred up. 

The samples were collected from a rowboat, the water 
being taken at different depths and at different points across 
several cross-sections of the canal. The water was always 
collected into a large bottle provided with a double perforated 
stopper. The contents of the bottle ^vere then emptied into 
a pail and mixed, and a litre bottle was filled from the mix- 
ture. By this method a sample representing the average qual- 
ity in different cross-sections of the canal was obtained. As 
soon as the samples were collected for the whole series they 
were taken to the Mount Prospect Laboratory, which was 
within 20 minutes' ride of the canal. 

With the exception of the test for turbidity, the methods 
of analyses were those recommended by the committee on 
standard methods of water analyses of the American Public 
Health Association. In the first series, consisting of 1 1 repre- 
sentative samples, the following determinations were made: 
turbidity, total organic nitrogen, free ammonia, chlorine, 
oxygen consumed, number of bacteria developed in a beef 
gelatine medium after 48 hours at 20^ C, and B. coli. The 
second series, consisting of 15 representative samples, were 
analyzed in the same way as the first, except that there was 
a distinction made between the organic nitrogen, solid matter 
and organic matter carried in solution and suspension. 



64 

The oxygen consumed was determined by the five-minute- 
boil method, the total nitrogen by the Kjeldahl and the free 
ammonia by direct nesslerization. The turbidity was deter- 
mined by means of the Jackson turbidimeter. 

C. Discussion of Data 

The data collected have been plotted, and it is interesting 
to compare the results of the two series of curves. The re- 
sults are such as might have been expected. The canal was 
shown to be badly polluted, and house sewage was found to 
be more objectionable than industrial drainage. 

The second series showed less pollution at the head of the 
canal than did the first series, but there was more evidence of 
pollution elsewhere. This was understood by the investigator 
to mean that the storm water had pushed the household 
sewage down from the head of the canal tow^ard the mouth. 

In examining the data closely the effects of pollution by 
some of the drains and sewers can be seen at the different 
parts of the canal where these outlets occur. Interesting 
correspondences are observable in the rise and fall of the 
figures at different places in the curves for organic nitrogen, 
oxygen consumed, turbidity, total solids and bacteria. The 
bactericidal action of some factory wastes seem to be detect- 
able, as is the precipitating action of other wastes. 

From the analytical data it appears that the water at the 
head of the canal is about two-thirds as strong as Brooklyn 
sewage. The proportion of sewage is reduced to about one- 
tenth near the mouth of the canal. 

The sample of sewage upon W'hich the foregoing calcula- 
tions are based and upon W'hich other computations to be 
noted presently depend, was taken from a manhole at the 
corner of Xevins and Butler streets, Brooklyn, on Saturday 
morning, April 14, 1908, the depth of flow in the sewer at 
the time being 6 inches. The sewage w^as analyzed like the 
samples of water; its putrescibility was tested by the methy- 
lene blue test. By this test one cubic centimeter of a i/io 
per cent, solution of methylene blue is added to a number of 



65 

mixtures of about 250 cubic centimeters of sewage and dif- 
ferent quantities of tap water. When putrefaction occurs the 
blue color disappeared. These tests indicated that a dilution 
of one part sewage to 15 parts water were necessary in order 
to supply the oxygen required to oxidize the sewage, or, in 
oth^r words, insure a non-putrescible mixture. 

About 30 samples of canal water were analyzed for dis- 
solved oxygen, finding with few exceptions none present. 

The temperature of the water of the canal w^as always 
warm, for the reason that much hot water was discharged 
into it by industrial plants. The temperature in February 
was 65° Fahr. at the head of the canal and gradually in- 
creased for about 1,500 feet down stream to 70°. In the 
next 500 feet toward the mouth, the temperature rose to 90°, 
further on it dropped to 70°, and then fell slowly until, at 
the entrance to the bay, it was 44°. In April the tempera- 
tures were a little higher, but varied in the same way at dif- 
ferent points. 

Gases bubbled up through the water for practically the 
whole length of the canal, and masses of black solid matter 
rose to the surface, burst, liberating these gases, and then 
disappeared from view. 

Some samples of solid matter from the bottom of the 
canal and various points in Gowanus bay were collected and 
anal3^zed with results w^hich were confirmatory of the prin- 
cipal data already referred to. 

Not the least interesting part of this study of the condi- 
tion of Gowanus canal is an attempt to calculate from the 
analytical data obtained the proportion of sewage, land water 
and harbor water in the canal at various points. Calculations 
also were made as to the amount of w^ater which it would be 
necessary to mix with the sewage of the canal in order 10 
render it odorless, provided (a) that no more sewage was to 
be added, and (b) that sewage w^as to be allowed to continue 
to flow in. 

From these calculations it appears that one volume of 
sewage would have to be mixed wdth 15 volumes of harbor 
water containing about 75 per cent, of the amount of oxygen 



66 

which the harbor water would contain if saturated to prevent 
putrefaction. Assuming that 793,000 cubic feet of sewage 
were discharged into the canal every day, 11,895,000 cubic 
feet of harbor water would be required to render the mixture 
inofYensive. Allowing a factor of 2 for safety, the author 
reached the conclusion that 25,000,000 cubic feet of water 
would have to be pumped daily into the canal to dilute the 
polluted water to such a point as to render it non-putrescible. 

If sewage was kept out of the canal as far as practicable, 
1,500,000 cubic feet per day would be required. At the time 
of these studies it was estimated that the canal water was 
about 50 times as polluted as the water of the harbor adjacent 
to the mouth of the canal. 

These calculations need not be divScussed here, for it is the 
main result which may or may not be useful, and not the 
method of calculation. The calculations can themselves be 
seen on examining the original paper in the '' Technology 
Quarterly." 

Using the results referred to, showing the composition of 
Brooklyn sewage, it appears that at the head of the canal the 
water contained at the time of this investigation 65 per 
cent, of sewage, 34 per cent, of land water, and i per 
cent, harbor water. The average for the whole canal w^as 
25 per cent, sewage. 



67 



Section V, 



Investigation of the Waters of the Lower 

Hudson River by the Burr=Hering= 

Freeman Commission in 1903* 



The object of this investigation was to obtain data which 
would be of service to a board of engineers appointed by the 
City of Xew York in 1902 to report upon the most available 
means of increasing the drinking water supply of the me- 
tropolis. Like the report of the board itself, the studies le- 
ferred to here were of an exhaustive character. They related 
chiefly to inland streams, but considerable attention was given 
to the Hudson as a possible source of drinking water. 



A. Hydrographic Features 

I. THE HUDSON RIVER 

The Hudson river rises in the Adirondack mountains and 
flows in a southerly direction for about 300 miles, emptying 
into Xew York harbor. Its influence, however, does not end 
in the harbor, but is detectable in the waters of the Atlantic 
ocean some miles off the coast. 

The river has a total drainage area of about 13,200 square 
miles. At Troy, a few miles below the confluence of the Mo- 
hawk, is the State dam, and at Glens Falls, about 40 miles 
above the Mohawk, the river flows over a high ledge. These 
two points, Glens Falls and Troy, divide the river into three 



* Appendix \'I., by George C. Whipple, to Report of the Burr-Hering-Freeman 
Commission on Additional Water Supply for the City of New York, made to Robert 
Grier ^lonroe. Commissioner of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, November 30, 
1903. Printed by Martin B. Brown Company, City Printers, New York, 1904, pp. 
501-530. 



68 

sections, namely, the upper Hudson, the middle Hudson and 
the lower Hudson. The term " upper Hudson " stands for 
mountains and forests, " middle Hudson " for manufactories 
and agriculture and " lower Hudson " for commerce. 

In a general way it may be said that the upper Hudson 
contributes coloring matter to the water, the middle Hudson 
hardness and pollution and the lower Hudson pollution. 

(a) The Hudson as a Source of Drinking Water. — The 
most important feature of the lower Hudson is its tidal char- 
acter. This portion of the river is really an elongated arm of 
the sea, where the tide ebbs and flows even to the foot of the 
Troy dam, 150 miles from New York. This does not mean, 
as is commonly supposed, that sea water reaches the Troy dam, 
but only that at that point the surface of the water rises and 
falls under tidal influence. 

The necessity for determining the icffect which the sea 
water might have upon the saltness of the Hudson at the 
point where, for engineering reasons, it might be desirable 
to obtain drinking water for the! City of New York, led the 
author to inquire into the salinity of the Hudson from the 
open ocean to Troy. 

It was well known that the Hudson water occasionally 
became brackish at Poughkeepsie and it was almost unani- 
mously the opinion of rivermen that the water was always 
fresh and drinkable at Kingston. No data were in existence 
from which to learn the conditions which allowed sea water 
to run up to Poughkeepsie and beyond. Therefore steps were 
taken to obtain these data as completely as possible within 
the time and means at the disposal of the investigators. 

In examining this report the fact must clearly be kept in 
mind that the author's point of view was that of one who was 
regarding the condition of the Hudson as a possible source of 
drinking w^ater. The report does not purport to include a 
thorough study of the movement of water in the Hudson river 
or the problem of sewage disposal, but some of the data are 
nevertheless of service in connection with the investigation of 
these subjects. 



69 

(b) Depth and Width of the Hudson. — The present 
mouth of the Hudson river is at the Battery, which is at the 
lower end of Manhattan Island, but the ancient bed of the 
river can be followed for a great distance beyond the harbor 
along the bottom of the sea. At the Battery the river has 
a width of about 5,000 feet and is about 60 feet deep at the 
deepest point at mean low tide. This depth is maintained 
with but slight variation to Hastings, about 20 miles. 

Opposite Fort Washington, 10 miles above the Battery, 
there is the first of a series of deep pockets which are thence- 
forward found at intervals for many miles along the course 
of the river. The deepest place in the Fort Washington pocket 
is about 150 feet below^ the surface of the water. 

Above Fort Washington there are three well-marked 
pockets; at Haverstraw a pocket 100 feet deep; at Peekskill 
a pocket 170 feet deep, and at West Point a pocket 210 feet 
deep. Further up the river, between 66 and 90 miles from the 
Battery, several other pockets occur, but these are of less 
depth than those just mentioned. 

A short distance above Hastings the river widens to about 
three miles and forms what is known as Tappan Zee and 
Haverstraw bay. At the upper end of Haverstraw bay the 
maximum depth is about 30 feet. Between this point and 
Cornwall, 56 miles above the Battery, the river passes, wath 
several curves, through a mountainous section of country called 
the Highlands. Here the stream becomes deep and narrow. 
Above Kingston, 91 miles from the Battery, the river becomes 
somewhat wider, but is of less and less depth, until at Albany 
the water is about 15 feet deep. 

(c) Cubic Capacity of the Hudson. — The cubic capacity 
of the bed of the Hudson river below the level of mean low 
water was calculated from charts issued by the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. These capacities were calculated 
for every lineal mile of the river from the Battery upward and 
indicate that the volume of the Hudson below mean low water 
level ranges from 375.000,000 cubic feet to 1,427.000,000 cu- 
bic feet per mile for that part of the Hudson river which lies 



70 

between the Battery and a point 107 miles beyond. For a dis- 
tance of 30 miles above the Battery the volume of the Hudson 
per lineal mile ranges from about 600,000,000 cubic feet to 
about 1,000,000,000 cubic feet. 

(d) Discliar gc of the Hudson. — Computations were made 
to show the volumes of land water discharged by the Hudson 
river at the Troy dam and at the Battery. The season was an 
unusually wet one, with a short dry interval. 

At one time in March the flow of water over the Troy dam 
was estimated at 101,000 second feet and the discharge at the 
Battery 150,000 second feet. In May, which happened to be 
a dry month, the minimum yield at the Troy dam was esti- 
mated at 3,000 second feet, and at the Battery 4,200 second 
feet. In connection with this subject it may be well to note 
that, owing to frequent rains through the summer, the river 
never shrank to its usual dry weather volume. In conse- 
quence of this fact the salt water from the sea did not run as 
far up the Hudson river as usual. 

2. TIDAL PHENOMENA 

(a) Tidal Ranges in the Hudson. — The water of New- 
York harbor rises and falls through an average of 4.8 feet with 
the tide. At Albany the average range is about 2.5 feet. Be- 
tween Albany and the Battery the range varies considerably 
according to locality. 

The mean tide level at Albany, excluding flood conditions, 
is about 2.5 feet above the mean sea level of New York harbor. 
From Albany down to a point near Rhinecliff, about 90 miles 
above the Battery, the river, under ordinary conditions, has 
a gradually decreasing slope, which averages about .03 foot 
per mile. Below Poughkeepsie the mean tide level increases 
slightly to Oscawana, about 40 miles above the Batter}'. At 
this point the average rise and fall decrease to New York har- 
bor. The author inferred from these facts that the influence 
of the salt water would not be felt in the third section of the 
river, where the slope or mean tide level was seaward. The 
lower boundary of this section was in the neighborhood of 
Rhinecliff. 



71 

(b) Duration of Tidal Periods. — It took about 9 hours 
50 minutes for the crest of the tidal wave to run from the 
Narrows to Albany, but the troughs of the waves move more 
slowly, requiring 11 hours 12 minutes to reach Albany. 
This difference was due to the flow of the stream. In New 
York harbor the ebb and flood of the tide were of about equal 
duration. Proceeding up the river the duration of the ebb tide 
increased until at Albany the tide fell for 7 hours 18 minutes 
and rose for 4 hours 42 minutes each half day. When the 
crest of the tidal wave reached the Troy dam it receded, and 
at a certain point down the river it met the advancing crest 
of the next wave. In a similar way the troughs met. 

(c) Effect of Wind on Tide Level. — It was found that the 
wind exerted an important influence upon the level of tide in 
New York harbor and the Hudson river. The wind blow- 
ing for several days from the east at a velocity of 20 miles 
per hour would tend to raise the tide level more than a 
foot above what it otherwise would have been. For a con- 
siderable distance up the river the east and west winds exerted 
a greater effect upon the tide than the north and south wands. 
During April, 1903, when a strong east wind blew for four 
days, the mean tidal level was raised 2.5 feet in the harbor 
and 1.5 feet at Poughkeepsie. At times the effect of the wind 
more than outweighed the effect of the astronomical conditions 
which ordinarily governed the height of the tide. 

B. Studies of Salinity 

I. THE SALT OF THE SEA 

(a) Chlorine. — Ordinary sea water collected off the coast 
opposite New York at such distance as not to be affected by 
fresh water from land was found to contain about 18,500 
parts per million of chlorine. In the harbor the chlorine was 
less than this; seldom exceeding 16,000. It was less than 10,- 
000, even at the Narrows. That is, the harbor water was con- 
sidered by the author to be only about one-half sea water and 
was seldom more than 85 per cent, as salt as the sea. 



72; 

A table was prepared to show the results of analyses of 
samples of sea water collected from a steamship which passed 
tlirough the Mediterranean Sea, near the coast of Portugal, 
among the Azore Islands, through the Gulf Stream and near 
the American coast. The chlorine in these samples ranged 
from 17,800 in a sample collected 25 miles off the Atlantic 
coast to 21,350 parts per million in the Mediterranean Sea, 
25 miles oft* the coast of Italy. 

A second set of samples was collected from a steamship 
plying between New York and Portland, Me., and passing 
through Long Island Sound. These letter samples ranged 
from 12,075 to 18,475 parts of chlorine per million. The 
least amount was found in a sample collected just outside of 
Plell Gate, New York harbor, and the largest in a sample col- 
lected about 40 miles east of Cape Ann. The author quoted 
Mr. H. W. Clark, Chemist to the Committee on the Charles 
River Dam, Boston, Mass., to show that a sample of water 
collected 6 miles east of Boston Light off the Massachusetts 
coast contained 18,130 parts of chlorine per million. 

(b) Mineral Ingredients of Sea Water. — The author 
gave the results of a mineral analysis of sea water as deter- 
mined by Prof. Vivian B. Lewis, which showed that a large 
part of the salt in sea water was sodium chloride or common 
table salt and that magnesium chloride furnished about 10 per 
cent, of the total saliue content. The results of this analysis 
follow, the constituents being stated in parts, by weight, of 
ingredient per million parts, by weight, of water : 

Sodium chloride 26,430 parts 

Magnesium chloride 3 J 50 

Magnesium sulphate i>7^3 

Calcium sulphate i»330 

Silica . 120 " 

Calcium carbonate 56 

Magnesium carbonate trace 

Oxide of iron trace 

32,869 



7Z 

While this analysis is far from complete it serves to give 
an idea of the most important constituents of sea water. 

2. SALTNESS OF THE HUDSON 

(a) Changes in the Salinity. — During the month of 
March, 1903, the Hudson river was in flood. Samples col- 
lected at this time showed that the chlorine ranged from 
about 1 1.3 to 21.3 parts per million at Hastings, 22 miles from 
the Battery. So far as salinity was concerned, this water could 
almost have been used for drinking purposes. 

About the middle of April the discharge of the river began 
to fall off rapidly, and during May, because of the drought, it 
continued to diminish. This permitted the sea water to run up 
the river. From March 23 until the middle of September a 
series of samples was collected almost every week from New 
York City to Poughkeepsie, at intervals of about one mile. 
Generally one sample was taken at high tide and one at low 
tide. 

The sea water ran furthest up the river during the last of 
May and the early part of June before the heavy rains of 
summer came on. On May 28 the water about 9 miles below 
Poughkeepsie was submuriatic, that is, it contained from 5 to 
20 parts per million of chlorine — an amount which is detect- 
able by the sense of taste. 

When the discharge of the river increased in June the 
brackish water was forced down the river to Fort Washing- 
ton, New York City, and submuriatic water was not found 
above the Tappan Zee. 

Later in the year the brackish water again forced its way 
up the river. The water was submuriatic as far as West Point, 
52 miles from the Battery. But at no time was there so much 
sea water at Poughkeepsie as to make the river unsuitable as 
a source of water supply. 

The foregoing figures all refer to surface samples and, for 
the most part, to samples collected near the centre of the 
stream. 

(b) The Under run. — It is well known that more sea 
water runs up a tidal river at the bottom than at the surface 



74 

and that for this reason there is more chlorine in the water at 
the bottom than at the top. This phenomenon, known as the 
iniderrun, is especially notable in the Hudson. Observations 
were made by the author to determine the extent of the under- 
run in the Hudson river, but these results are not given in 
detail in his report. 

Some early studies of the phenomenon of the underrun of 
sea water in the Hudson river were made by Prof. Mitchell 
and H. L. Marinden and published in the reports of the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1873 and 1887. In- 
vestigations on the subject of underrun in the Charles river, 
Boston, Mass., were also made by Mr. John R. Freeman in 
connection with investigations for the Charles river dam. 
The observations of the Hudson, made during the summer of 
1903, showed that the phenomena were confined to those por- 
tions of the river where the chlorine was comparatively large 
in amount. 

On January 27, 1903, samples of water were taken at dif- 
ferent depths at Fort Washington, New York City, the tide 
being three-quarters ebb. At the surface there were 5,900 
parts of chlorine per million; at 30 feet 8,900 parts, and at 55 
feet, the bottom of the river, 12,300 parts. 

(c) Sanitary Importance of the Underrun. — The phe- 
nomenon of the underrun was of interest from a sanitary 
standpoint for the reason that it was thought the salt water 
of the sea, running up stream at the bottom of the Hudson 
1:hrough the polluted harbor of New York, might carry 
sewage matters with it. In the early government studies of 
the underrun of the Hudson much stress was laid upon the 
possibility that the pockets or potholes in the river bottom 
might accumulate sewage, and that this sewage might be left 
unchanged when the underrun retreated toward the sea. The 
author investigated this matter. 

On January 17, 1903, the water in the Peekskill pocket had 
one to two parts of chlorine at all depths down to 125 feet. 
The same was true of the West Point pocket, which was 180 
feet deep, and the Newburgh pocket, which was 80 feet deep. 

On January 22 the Poughkeepsie pocket, 60 feet deep, 



75 

contained 2 parts of chlorine at all depths. On February 11 
samples were taken every 10 feet from the surface to a depth 
of 90 feet in the Newburgh pocket, and the chlorine was 1.6 
parts per million in all cases. On the same day the chlorine 
in the West Point pocket varied from 1.2 in the centre to 1.4 
at the bottom. In June, after the sea water had run for a con- 
siderable distance up the river and then retreated, all the 
pockets were investigated and found to contain no large 
amount of chlorine. 

(d) Salinity at Different Points Across the Stream. — ■ 
Samples taken at various points across the stream and at 
different times showed that there was more chlorine near the 
shore than at the centre. These differences were not great, 
however, except during ebb tide, when the strongest outflow 
was passing down the main channel. At times during flood 
tide the water in midstream contained more chlorine than was 
found elsewhere. 

(e) Changing Nature of the Problem. — The author had 
desired to establish the relation between the tidal and hydro- 
graphic conditions of the Hudson river but found it a diffi- 
cult matter as the phenomena were subject to many complica- 
tions. He found the controlling influence upon the underrun 
of sea water to be the stream flow. The tide exercised but a 
secondary influence, although daily fluctuations in the saltness 
of the water might be caused thereby. The quantity of water 
flowing over the Troy dam and from the watershed of the 
lower Hudson determined the salinity of the river at all points. 

Ordinarily the late summer, when the stream flow was 
least and the general tidal elevations of the harbor highest, 
was the most favorable time for a high run of sea water. 

C. Pollution of the Hudson 

(a) The Authors Point of Viezu. — That the Hudson 
river was polluted was in no need of scientific demonstration. 
Yet the ocular evidence of this fact was abundantly confirmed 
bv chemical and bacterial analvses of the water and bv statis- 



76 

tical data of population and the prevalence of typhoid fever on 
the watershed. In considering the use of the term " pollu- 
tion " by the author, his point of view must carefully be kept 
in mind. He was considering the possibility that the water 
would be used for drinking purposes. 

(b) Method of Study. — Data wxre collected at all the im- 
portant centres of population on the watershed above Pough- 
keepsie- covering the nature of the water supplies, the 
sewerage systems, the character and extent of the industrial 
establishments and the nature of the resulting waste products. 

From the sanitary standpoint the most important sources 
of pollution were the sewers of the large cities, for these di- 
rectly contaminated the water with fecal matter. Most of the 
large cities were provided with sewers and practically all the 
manufacturing establishments situated near the stream had 
water closets which discharged directly or indirectly into the 
water. The urban population per square mile of watershed was 
considered to furnish, therefore, a fair index of the degree 
of pollution of the stream. 

(c) Population on the Drainage Area. — The figures indi- 
cated that the total rural population on the drainage area of the 
Hudson river in 1903 was about 900,000 above Yonkers, 
which lies just above New York City. The total urban popu- 
lation to this point was about 650,000. The rural population 
down to Poughkeepsie was 750,000; the urban population 
500,000. To Troy the estimate was 550,000 for the rural 
population and 350,000 for the urban population. 

The urban population per square mile of drainage area 
varied from about 40 to 55, and the rural population about 60 
to 80 per square mile. Both the urban and rural concentra- 
tions of population were considered to be greatest near the 
mouth of the river and near Troy, and least about midway 
between these two points. 

(d) Typhoid Rates. — The prevalence of typhoid fever on 
the watershed, and especially in the several towns, was thought 
to have a marked effect upon the character of the water as 



77 

regards pollution. Of two sewered cities equal in size that one 
would be the more dangerous which had the higher typhoid 
death rate. For the upper Hudson river drainage area the 
rate varied from about 9 to about 233 per 100,000 popula- 
tion. ]\Iost of the figures were averages for the 9 years 1894 
to 1902, inclusive. 

(e) Danger of Pollution. — The author considered that the 
pollution should not be regarded as cumulative. That is, the 
danger from the water did not increase in the same propor- 
tion as the distance from Albany toward New York increased. 
He was of opinion that the degree of pollution of the river be- 
tween H3^de Park and Kingston was no greater than it was 
above the city of Albany, where the water was taken and 
filtered for a public drinking water supply. That it did not 
become more and more polluted was due to the fact that the 
addition of relatively pure water to the river from the water- 
shed more than made up for the sewage which w^as added. 

In the foregoing statement no account was taken of the 
possibility that polluting matter might be carried up stream 
from New York harbor and cities and towns along the 
lower river. The author considered that an intake for a drink- 
ing water supply w^hich was so located as to be above the north- 
erly limit of sea water inflow would practically escape the 
danger of sewage pollution from New York harbor and 
would, in fact, be but slightly affected by any pollution which 
would occur between the intake and the sea. Nevertheless, if 
Hudson river water w^as to be used for drinking purposes by 
New York City, it would be wise to provide all the cities of 
the lower Hudson with systems of sewage disposal in order to 
reduce the danger of infection to a minimum. 



ys 



Section VI. 



Investigation of the Condition of the Passaic 
River by Messrs. Hazen and Whipple in 1906 



The report here referred to was made to a joint committee 
of citizens and of the board of aldermen of Paterson, N. J. 
The report gives Mr. Hazen's opinion of the best means of 
disposing of Paterson's sewage without polluting the Passaic 
river. Paterson w^ished to know whether it would be better 
to purify its sewage or join with other municipalities in the 
Passaic valley in the construction of a trunk sewer to dis- 
charge into New York harbor. 

In the course of his investigations Mr. Hazen called his 
partner, George C. Whipple, to his assistance. Mr. Whipple 
made analyses of the Passaic river water and entered into 
an elaborate discussion of the quantity and quality of sewage 
from Paterson then being discharged into the Passaic river. 
The following remarks are drawn from Mr. Hazen's report 
and Mr. Whipple's appendix to it, which were published by 
the joint committee. 

The population of Paterson at the time of these studies 
was about 133,000. It was estimated that it would be about 
300,000 by the year 1938. 

The condition of the Passaic river and the disposal of the 
sewage of Paterson have a bearing upon the condition of New 
York harbor for the reason that the Passaic flows into Newark 
bay, an arm of New York harbor. 

A. General Discussion of the Problem by Mr. Hazen^ 

I. THE manufacturing WASTES 

The manufacturing wastes were greater in volume than 
the domestic sewage of Paterson. They added materially to 

* Report of Allen Hazen to the Joint Committee on S swags Dispc-al. Paterson. 
N. J., June 30, 1906. See The Joint Committee on Sewage Disposal of the City of 
Paterson, printed by the Chronicle Print, Paterson, 1906, pp. 63-107. 



79 

the pollution of the river. Some of these wastes were carried 
through the city sewers, but the greater part were discharged 
directly into the river. 

(a) Dye House Wastes. — In the dye houses of Paterson 
there were handled every year about 7,500,000 pounds of raw 
silk, which was two-thirds of the whole amount manufactured 
in the United States. In handling this material the dyers esti- 
mated that 1,000 gallons of water was used for every pound of 
silk. This was 20,000,000 gallons per day, or 200 gallons per 
capita for the entire population of Paterson. For every pound 
of raw silk one pound or more of soap was used. In the larger 
works the greater part of this soap was recovered, but a large 
proportion passed off with the wastes. In cleaning the silk 
there was removed a substantial amount of putrescible ex- 
tractive matter which contributed in a considerable degree to 
the pollution of the river. 

Various chemicals and dyes were used in the process of 
dyeing the silk. There was necessarily a large amount of loss, 
which the manufacturers endeavored to reduce as far as pos- 
sible. Of the polluting substances by far the greatest quantity 
was carried by a comparatively small volume of concentrated 
liquor, not exceeding 5 or 10 per cent, of the total volume of 
water used by the dye houses. 

Certain further quantities of discharge contained some pol- 
luting matters, but the great bulk consisted of wash water 
containing only mineral matters or organic substances in such 
small quantities that they did not offensively pollute the river. 
Owing to the fact that the water used in the dye houses was of 
exceptional purity and the wastes, chiefly mineral and not 
putrescible, the author was of opinion that the wastes from 
the dye houses did no material harm to the river. 

(b) Wastes from Various Industries. — There were 3 
slaughter houses and packing establishments, employing 75 
men; 6 breweries, making 230,000 barrels of beer and ale 
annually; 2 printing and dyeing establishments not dealing 
with silks, and gas works. The last contributed more to the 



8o 

offensive condition of the river than any other single estabHsh- 
ment. 

Taking into account all the data, it was estimated that the 
manufacturing wastes of the city added 25 per cent, to the 
volume of sewage to be treated and that the material added in 
this way was, on the whole, considerably more difficult to deal 
with than the house sewage. In fact, Mr. Hazen estimated 
that the difficulty and expense of treating the sewage of the 
city of Paterson would be increased about 50 per cent, because 
of the manufacturing wastes of various kinds which the sewers 
must contain. 

2. CONDITION OF THE SEWERS 

(a) Capacity and Repair. — At the time the report was 
made there were over 70 miles of sewers in Paterson. Most 
of these were sufficient to carry away the storm water; a few 
were much larger than was necessary and some were too small. 
The sewers were not regularly cleaned or inspected. In fact, 
some could not be inspected for the reason that the manhole 
covers had been built over in improving or paving the streets, 
and this made the sewers practically inaccessible. 

(b) Outlets and Deposits. — The slopes of the sewers were 
irregular and of such nature that deposits of sand and gravel 
from street washings were likely to occur therein. Many of 
the sewer outlets were submerged by high water in the Passaic 
river and some by the water of the river at ordinary levels. 
Investigation showed that many of the sewers were filled to a 
considerable depth with deposits and that their carrying ca- 
pacity was thereby considerably reduced. 

3. EFFECT OF DIVERTING WATER FROM THE PASSAIC 

(a) Extent of the Draught. — At the time of the report a 
part of the water which would naturally flow in the Passaic 
river was being diverted further up stream for drinking water 
supplies. The minimum flow of the river w^as reduced about 
45 per cent, by this draught. The ordinary flow was reduced 
by a much smaller percentage. 



8i 



It was thought by some that these diversions of water were 
chiefly responsible for the objectionable condition of the river, 
but the author considered that the increase in polluting matter 
discharged into the Passaic was the main cause. 



4. CONCLUSIONS 

(a) Health Considerations.— Tht author described the 
Passaic river as dirty and said that the comfort and conveni- 
ence of residents along the banks required that it should 
be clean. Cleaning it was a matter of general comfort rather 
than of public health. The odors which arose from decom- 
posing sewage did not cause typhoid fever, or smallpox, or 
scarlet fever or any other contagious disease. They might, and 
often did, reduce the comfort and happiness and, consequently, 
in a sense, the health of the people subjected to them, but it 
could not be maintained that they caused serious sickness. 

(b) Injury to Property. — The condition of the river v/as 
such that it was not pleasant to bathe in it or to use it for 
boating purposes or to live near its banks, and the feeling that 
it was unhealthful, even though not supported by scientific 
evidence, had weight with those who had to do with it. The 
polluted condition of the stream reduced the availability and 
value of the shore for many purposes, and for these reasons 
it was w^orth while to clean the river, without reference to 
public health. 

(c) Reconiuiendation. — The author recommended that 
Paterson join with other municipalities in the construction of a 
trunk sewer to take the sewage of Paterson and of the entire 
district requiring sewerage in the lower Passaic river valley 
to a point of sea water dilution. He considered that adequate 
dilution could be obtained either in New York bay or in New- 
ark bav near the Kill van Kull. 



82 



B. Discussion of the Chemical Composition of Pater- 
son Sewage by Mr. Whipple'-' 

In his investigation of the composition of Paterson sewage 
the author approached his problem in two ways. First, he 
made calculations from such general data as were obtainable 
from technical text books, modifying this information by what 
he could learn of the nature of the substances being discharged 
from the various manufacturing establishments, and, second, 
he made analyses of the sewage of the city, samples being col- 
lected at the mouths of the sewers and at various points in the 
Passaic river above and below the city. 

I. the house sewage and factory wastes produced by 

PATERSON 

(a) Quantity of House Sezuage. — The quantity of water 
used by the city of Paterson was taken to be approximately 
75 gallons per capita. About 89 per cent, of the population 
was provided with sewer connections. The consumption of 
water varied according to season, being considerably greater 
in winter than in summer. The average consumption for the 
entire year at the time of this report was about 9,000,000 gal- 
lons per day. The sewers were of the combined type. 

(b) Polluting Matters from Manufactories. — In summing 
up the results of his calculations the author estimated that 
the silk industries of Paterson contributed about 37,000 pounds 
of solid matter to the river each day. The suspended solids 
amounted to 16,500 pounds. There were 22,000 pounds of 
organic matter and 8,000 pounds of fat. The suspended mat- 
ter was of such character as readily to settle if all the dye 
wastes were mixed together. The precipitation was aided by 
the reaction of the iron and tannin. This was proved in a 
practical manner by the heavy black deposits which covered 
the bed of the Passaic river below the city. The foul ap- 



* Appendix I., by George C. Whipple, to report of Allen Hazen to the Joint Com- 
mittee on Sewage Disposal, Paterson, N. T. See the Joint Committee on Sewage Dis- 
posal of the City of Paterson. Printed by the Chronicle Print, Paterson, 1906, 
PP- 3,-3 5- 



83 

pearance of the river below the city of Paterson was due more 
to the black deposits on the bottom than to the color of the 
water itself. It was a continual surprise to those who collected 
the river samples to note how comparatively free of color the 
water was in bottles, for in the river it was dark and offensive. 

(c) Experiments uitli Dye House Wastes. — Some experi- 
ments were made to determine the effect which the coloring 
matter from the dye houses would have upon the sewage, sup- 
posing the sewage to be collected at some central point 
for purification and no dye wastes allowed to flow into 
the river. The experiments indicated that the efiluent from 
the purification plant would have but little color, although there 
would be at all times a noticeable brown hue and occasionally 
a faint purple. There was no reason to believe that the trade 
wastes w'ould interfere with the bio-chemical reactions which 
would have to take place in the different processes of puri- 
fying the sewage. 

(d) Brezvery Wastes. — The methods of brewing employed 
at Paterson were studied in order to obtain a knowledge of the 
wastes connected with this industry. The total amount of 
water used for washing, refrigerating and similar purposes 
w'as estimated at about 20 gallons for each gallon of beer or 
ale produced, and 767 barrels w^ere produced per day. 
For each gallon of beer there were required 2 gallons of water 
for washing barrels, cleaning tubs and other receptacles, 5 
gallons for refrigeration and 13 gallons for various operations 
connected with the malting process, including the water used 
for W'ashing floors, tanks and apparatus. It was estimated 
that the total amount of water used by the brewers of Paterson 
would be, in round numbers, 450,000 gallons per day. 

The amount of organic matter put into the Paterson sewers 
from the breweries was about 150 pounds per day, of which 25 
pounds was nitrogen. Inasmuch as no samples could be ob- 
tained from w^hich to gain knowledge of the malting process, 
it was quite likely that this figure was too low; in fact, the 
author thought perhaps it should be doubled. 



84 

The wastes contained considerable quantities of yeast and 
reached the sewers in a fermented condition. Considered as 
a whole, the amount of organic matter from the breweries was 
very small when compared with that from the silk dye works. 

2. RESULTS OF ANALYSES 

(a) Analyses of Sewage. — On April 18-20, 1906, samples 
of sewage were collected from the mouths of the principal 
sewers in Paterson and at the same time gaugings were made 
of the flow of sewage. From the analyses of these samples 
and data as to the volume of sewage it was possible to 
calculate the number of pounds per day of sewage matters 
discharged by the city sewers. 

Sixteen sewers were examined, representing about 85 per 
cent, of the total volume of sewage produced by the city. The 
results of the analyses were calculated as so many grams of 
ingredient per capita per day. The data of principal interest 
follow : 

Total solids 360 grams 

Organic matter 189 

Mineral matter 171 

Suspended solids 69 

Chlorine 29 " 

Nitrogen 13 " 

Albuminoid ammonia 2.5 

Free ammonia 5-^ 

Fat 63 " 

The foregoing figures do not include the wastes discharged 
from all the factories ; many factory drains discharged directly 
into the river. The effect of the silk dye house wastes was evi- 
dent in the large amount of fat. In 5 out of the 16 sewers 
these dye wastes conspicuously colored the sewage. 

(b) Analyses of River Water. — In order to ascertain the 
amount of sewage and trade wastes discharged by the city into 
the Passaic river three series of samples were collected from 
the river on January 19 and 20, February 17, 18 and 19 and 



85 

on June 12, 1906. The quantity of water flowing in the Pas- 
saic was determined at the same time. 

The first series was taken near Passaic falls, above which 
the city contributes Httle or no sewage to the river ; the second 
at a point below all important sources of pollution from the 
mills, and the third at a point below all city sewers. The 
samples at all places were collected hourly for 24 hours. Each 
sample was a composite of three portions, one taken at each 
side of the river and one at the centre. Each hourly sample 
was analyzed separately for turbidity, color, odor, chlorine 
and alkalinity. The samples were then combined to make a 
representative sample for the day. These composite samples 
were subjected to full sanitary chemical analyses. 

(c) First Series of Analyses. — The first series of analyses 
showed great differences between the day flow and night flow 
of the river. Thus, the turbidity at the point below the inflow 
of most of the manufacturing wastes varied from 7 during the 
night to 48 during the day. The average was 14 for the night 
and 35 for the day. Similar differences were noted in regard 
to chlorine and alkalinity. 

During the night the color of the water was substantially 
the same above and below the city, but during the day nearly 
all the samples collected below the city had a bluish or reddish 
color, due to the discharge of dye wastes into the river. 

All samples taken from the river below the gas works 
possessed a tarry odor, due to the discharge of waste material 
from the gas works. The intensity of this odor varied at dif- 
ferent times during the day and night, showing that the dis- 
charge was intermittent. 

In the samples collected on Sunday there was a smaller 
difference between the day and night results. At the points 
where the turbidity had varied as just described, the turbidity 
of the water during the day was 10 and during the night 8, 
while the colors were 21 and 16, respectively. The wastes 
discharged from the gas works were apparently less in amount, 
for only a few Sunday samples possessed tarry odors. Samples 
collected below the city on Sunday and Monday showed the 



86 

effect of the trade wastes discharged on Saturday. All these 
samples were more or less colored with dye wastes and pos- 
sessed tarry odors. 

The samples collected in the third series on June 12 showed 
that somewhat less polluting matter was being discharged into 
the river than at the time the first series was collected. This 
was due, to a considerable extent, to smaller amounts of waste 
material from the gas works. 

From the foregoing studies calculations were made to show 
the total amount of polluting matter discharged into the 
stream. Considered as a whole, the data obtained on the dif- 
ferent days were somewhat conflicting, but in the main they 
substantially, corroborated the figures already given for the 
amount of nitrogen, fat and other ingredients. 

Referring to the results of analyses of hourly samples from 
the Passaic river above and below Paterson in the first series 
on January 19 and 20, 1906, it is noticeable that w^hen the 
discharge of the stream varied from about 1,300 cubic feet 
per second to about 1,650 cubic feet per second, the average 
turbidity for the entire period of 24 hours w^as 6.5 above 
Paterson, 25 at Paterson and 7.5 below Paterson. The color 
was 32, 36 and 33 at the three points, respectively. At the 
three points named the odor was described as 0.25 disagree- 
able, 2.5 tarry and 2 tarry. Chlorine was 2.75, 6.3 and 6, re- 
spectively. The alkalinity w'as 22, 26 and 25, respectively. 

Turning now to the results of complete analyses of the six 
hourly samples from the Passaic river above, at and below 
Paterson, collected in the first series, the following results were 
obtained. The total solid matter was 74.5, 114 and 106.5; 
the suspended matter was 3.5, 22.5 and 3.0; the free ammonia 
was 0.024. 0.080 and 0.160; the albuminoid ammonia was 
0.133, 0.480 and 0.260. 

(d) Second Series of Analyses. — In the second series of 
samples the Passaic river was discharging 421 cubic feet per 
second. Averages of hourly samples collected at the points 
already named gave the following average results : Turbidity. 
5, 9, II ; color, 16, 18.5, 3.C) grey brown: odor, o, 5 tarry +0.6 
disagreeable, 1.25 tarry; chlorine 3.5, 5.25, 7.25. 



87 

The average results of the complete chemical analyses of 
mixed hourly samples from the Passaic river, collected in the 
second series, included the following figures for the three 
points referred to: Total residue above Paterson, 97; at 
Paterson, 96; below^ Paterson, 121; suspended solids, 4, 15.5 
and 15, respectively; nitrogen as free ammonia, 0.022, 0.175 
and 0.150; nitrogen as albuminoid ammonia, 0.197, 0.485 
and 0.505. 

(e) Third Series of Analyses. — Referring now to the third 
series of analyses the turbidity in the hourly samples ranged 
from about 12 to 15 at Passaic falls and from 16 to 35 at 
Nineteenth street bridge. The color above Paterson was 
about 34; at Paterson it was slightly yellow and slightly 
purple, reddish yellow and reddish purple. The odor above 
Paterson was described as i vegetable and at Paterson from i 
disagreeable to 3 disagreeable. The chlorine above Paterson 
was 4 and at Paterson from 7 to 12. 

Referring to the complete analyses of the 6 samples from 
the Passaic river collected in the third series, it is noticeable 
that the total residue was 79 above Paterson and 134 at Pater- 
son; the suspended solids at these two points were 5.0 and 21.0, 
respectively. The free ammonia was 0.050 above Paterson 
and 0.890 at Paterson; the albuminoid ammonia was 0.220 
above Paterson and 0.640 at Paterson. 

It remains to summarize the results of analyses of the 
sewage made at the 16 sewer outfalls. The total solids of the 
sewage of Paterson varied from 363 to 2,755 parts per million. 
This was equivalent to 87,200 pounds per day for the entire 
city of Paterson. The suspended matter in the sewage varied 
from 45 parts to 641 parts per million. This was equivalent 
to 16,650 pounds for the entire city per day. The free am- 
monia varied from 4.10 to 45.0 parts per million. This was 
1,400 pounds per day for the city. The albuminoid ammonia 
varied from 2.10 to 9.90 parts. This was 600 pounds per day 
for the entire city. 



LB N 10 



